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Original poster

Has anyone ever had an emergency alert

34 replies

Clutchpearlsandgasp · 05/12/2023 22:19

Aside from the tester one that we all had, has anyone ever had another and what was it for? I live in an area that has had some quite severe weather (newsworthy at one point), loss of life due to conditions. We also had a local missing person situation that hit the headlines but I didn't get an alert for either.

OP posts:

keye · 06/12/2023 08:20

Natsku · 05/12/2023 22:22

Yeah, for a toxic gas cloud from a factory problem. I was at the pub at the time, the power cut out and then the emergency alert went and the radio told us to stay inside and close all windows and vents. The pub served drinks for cash only as obviously the tills weren't working, and we had to take a candle to the loo. I was in the middle of a poker tournament and we had to carry on by candlelight.
It was a very weird night but fun. After a couple of hours the power came back on and we could leave the building again.

I might be missing the point but why did the radio tell you what to do? Surely that's what the alert is for?

GreyWednesday · 06/12/2023 08:23

We had an automated alert come through on our landline when I was a teenager.

Apparently the local river (a stream really, or at least the bit by us) was in danger of flooding and we should be ready to gather our pets and valuables and head to higher ground!

Natsku · 06/12/2023 08:26

keye · 06/12/2023 08:20

I might be missing the point but why did the radio tell you what to do? Surely that's what the alert is for?

Show quote history

I kinda misunderstood the emergency alert part of the question, forgot about the text version they have nowadays, this was some years ago and it was the emergency siren that alerted us (well, the power cut alerted us first really)

CalistoNoSolo · 06/12/2023 08:29

Nobody I know got the UK test one. Did it actually happen after all of the fanfare?

bellac11 · 06/12/2023 08:30

I didnt get the test either. I remember the threads. My phone is nearly always off or on silent or buried at the bottom of my bag so I use it like I used to use a landline phone. When Im ready.

Im not sure an alert would help me much, the incident will have long passed when I look at the message!

BIWI · 06/12/2023 10:46

Yes it did happen - we all got the emergency alert here, albeit at slightly different times

MrsSkylerWhite · 06/12/2023 10:47

No, just the tester. Didn’t know what it was, thought my phone was on the blink. So, that would be me dead 😁

S72 · 06/12/2023 10:58

I did when travelling in New Zealand many years ago - potential tsunami alert

mindutopia · 06/12/2023 10:58

Yes, but not in the UK. I used to live in South Asia and we got one once from the police for reports of a possible terrorist in the neighbourhood where I lived. This was relatively soon after a well-known and large scale terror attack in the country, so was quite anxiety producing! If I remember correctly, it turned out to be a false alarm, though we did have quite a big terror attack maybe a year later a few blocks away, so obviously good reason to be on alert.

In the UK, I live in the middle of nowhere and the most excitement we get around here is everyone trying to work out who the loose sheep belong to. 😂

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