‘Civil Emergency’ text message was an accident, officials say

Cellphones and phone lines to area dispatch centers were blowing up just before noon Tuesday when a mass text message went out declaring a, “Civil Emergency.”

The message went on to state that recipients should, “Prepare for action.”

However, it did not state whether the Russians, or North Koreans were coming, the zombie apocalypse was upon us, or anything detailing the nature of the emergency.

Several minutes later another mass text message was sent, confirming the original message was a test.

Laurel County Emergency Management Director Albert Hale said some type of error at the state emergency operations center resulted in the message being sent.

“The state police, feds and everyone else have been getting calls asking what it meant,” said, Hale, adding that it was something even he wasn’t certain about.

“They apparently meant to send the message, but left ‘test’ out of the text,” said Laurel County Sheriff’s Deputy Gilbert Acciardo.

Whitley County Emergency Management Director Danny Moses said he didn’t receive the text but did receive multiple calls from individuals who did.

“I’m not really familiar with how or why they would send out that type of text,” Moses said. “I have never received one.”