Cryptic emergency alert panics Oregon city's residents

AP via Yahoo News ^ | 5/30/18 | TOM JAMES

[Kartographer]

Oregon's emergency alert systems blasted a cryptic alert to cellphones around the capital city, panicking residents by telling them simply "Civil Emergency" and "Prepare for Action" and leaving off that the threat was toxic algae at a local water supply.

Officials wanted to warn Salem-area residents Tuesday night that elevated levels of a natural toxin caused by the algae bloom had made area tap water unsafe for children and people with compromised immune systems. But that information got cut off, and a more ominous-sounding default message went out in its place, said Andrew Phelps, head of the state emergency management agency.

[Kartographer]

This is a nightmare. A few years back there was such a bloom in lake Erie I check with the people at Berkey Filters and they said at that time even their filter was not able to filter out such toxin.

[blueunicorn6]

I still remember the advice Grandpa gave me.....

“When in trouble, when in doubt, run around, scream and shout!”

[Kartographer]

So sorry to hear that. Alzheimer’s?

[blueunicorn6]

No thanks.

I don’t drink foreign beer.

[Kartographer]

I see. My condolences it obviously runs in the family.

[BradyLS]

Well, zombies aren’t involved, so how bad can it be?

[Fungi]

A dysfunctional rabid liberal state like few others. Hey, you get what you vote for, reap what you sow.

[Kartographer]

That’s the thing about water in America no one thinks much about it until the taps shut off.

[blueunicorn6]

Yeah.

We have some great runners in the family.

Our family crest is a chicken running from a Redcoat.

[eldoradude]

Oregon's emergency alert systems blasted a cryptic alert to cellphones around the capital city

Tom James needs to learn how to spell. Al G. is toxic, indeed.

[Lurkina.n.Learnin]

Cryptic? F’d up, yes! Cryptic, no.

[Kartographer]

Comedian I thought you got zotted here and over are GLP as well?

[blueunicorn6]

I’ll have you know that I’m a customer in good standing with Gulf Light & Power.

Well, maybe not good standing.

More like kind of OK crouching.

[doorgunner69]

Is lake Erie the one caught fire years ago?

People drink it now, eve with filtering?

[MadLibDisease]

That was the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland

[Ken H]

Sounds like something out of Monty Python.

“Attention please. We have a cryptic emergency. Repeat. We have a cryptic emergency. That is all.”

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

How about the letter a mom sent to her kids.

“START WORRYING! Details in next letter!”

[doorgunner69]

That was the Cuyahoga River in Cleveland

Which looks like it drains into lake Erie, so sort of like drinking from where a polluted stream enters. No thanks.

[Freedom4US]

The Cuyohoga river did, I think it might have been exaggerated in the media. I still maintain we were better off when our waterways had an octane rating ;)

[JoeFromSidney]

Reminds me of the spoof "public service announcement" we had at a radio station where I once worked. "This is only a drill. If this were a real emergency, we would have fled in terror, and you would not have been informed."

Thank God it never got on the air by accident. We'd all have been fired.