Madison Heights, county officials take heat after repeated emergency alerts

Oakland County officers and the Madison Heights Police Division are listening to from indignant residents after emergency alerts had been despatched out a number of instances after a lacking 6-year-old boy was discovered Sunday evening.

Madison Heights police used social media Tuesday morning to speak that the kid had been discovered and was protected — and that the county was working to cancel the alert.

County officers stated it is an AT&T downside.

“Apparently there’s an previous interchange on one in every of their towers that has exceeded its lifespan, and so they’re nonetheless engaged on that,” stated county spokesman Invoice Mullan. “That is an AT&T downside. They should repair it.”

Mullan stated AT&T officers knowledgeable the province that they’d be conducting upkeep from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. Wednesday “and the intention was for this to be dealt with.”

However some county residents acquired the message once more simply after 5 a.m. Wednesday morning.

An AT&T spokesperson had no remark however referred The Oakland Press to a Federal Emergency Administration Company web site.

FEMA’s web site states that the wi-fi warning system is along with the Emergency Alert System that sends messages on radio and TV. Alerts about safety threats or different emergencies could come from some federal, state, native and tribal authorities companies.

Mullan stated provincial officers are involved in regards to the repeated stories. The large concern: indignant recipients will disable or ignore emergency notifications.

“It is a public security situation and we wish it resolved as rapidly as doable,” he stated. “We need to make it clear that this outage shouldn’t be coming from Madison Heights or the county.”

He referred to as on individuals to heed the warnings.

“We perceive and respect that (the repeated messages) are uncomfortable,” Mullan stated. “However the alerts are a necessary technique of communication for us throughout any public emergency.”

FEMA officers didn’t reply to The Oakland Press’ request for remark.