SALEM, Ore. — The head of Oregon's emergency management agency has apologized after a cryptic emergency alert was forced out to cell phones in and around Oregon's capital city, displaying the words "Civil Emergency" and "Prepare for Action," but carrying little other information.
Andrew Phelps said late Tuesday that a technical glitch had cut off crucial information: that the alert concerned contaminated drinking water in the Salem area.
But many people in the Willamette Valley didn't realize that at around 8:30 p.m. when they received a civil emergency alert on their phones that said "prepare for action" but didn't provide any more information.
The Marion County Sheriff's Office, and other law enforcement agencies in the Willamette Valley, quickly posted on social media that the alert was intended to notify people about the toxins in Salem's drinking water. They also asked people to not call 911.
OEM said the alert was requested by the City of Salem to alert residents about the drinking water advisory but "defaulted to civil emergency verbiage."
"This was a technology issue which OEM is currently working to learn how and why it happened," OEM said in a statement. "OEM understands the default message caused concern among residents and is working to learn the issue to be corrected."
The incident marked a high-profile glitch in authorities' use of emergency alert systems, following a false alarm sent out by Hawaii officials in January warning of an incoming ballistic missile.
The systems are capable of pushing messages directly to every cell phone in a given area, even if users haven't subscribed or downloaded an app.
Residents in Marion, Yamhill, Benton, Lincoln, Deschutes and Clackamas counties reported receiving the message Tuesday night.
"Our center was completely bogged down with 911 calls after the alert went out," said Lt. Chris Baldridge with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
Baldridge said when 911 lines become tied up, people with actual emergencies cannot get through or their call times become longer.
Woodburn Police Chief Jim Ferraris sent out a tweet saying the message had been sent by the Office of Emergency management in error.
A corrected alert was sent later with the appropriate information.
Earlier on Tuesday, low levels of toxic algae was discovered in Salem’s drinking water, prompting officials to issue an advisory that parents should not give tap water to children under 6 years old. People with compromised health and immune systems should also avoid the tap water.
The advisory was extended when new test results came in Thursday.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.