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Toronto area sent nuclear alerts by mistake

thestar.com

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Re: Toronto area sent nuclear alerts by mistake

#31

Post by interestica »

jpdaigle wrote: post #21
SECProto wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's strange that this article says "Toronto area" - it was sent to the entire province of Ontario.

I'm in Gatineau, Québec and we got it too, so it even got broadcast to neighbouring provinces.

I was wondering about this today. How granular are the 'zones' used for these alerts? Is it just by political boundary? For something like Pickering, it would be useful to have a more geographical zone -- including parts of the US. Could the alert be sent out and limited to cell towers within a selected zone? Is the current system using tower location?

Re: Toronto area sent nuclear alerts by mistake

#34

Post by nitwit005 »

nolta wrote: post #6

I wonder how many people are killed per alert? These alerts (usually AMBER alerts) are sent to millions of people, accompanied by a loud and startling siren. You can imagine all sorts of "one-in-a-million" events. The surgeon woken in the middle of the night, who can't get back to sleep and makes a mistake the next day. The startled roofer falling off a ladder. Etc.

I've been in a car when four cell phones started blaring, and it definitely startled the shit out of me. I'm sure people have crashed as a result.

I fully expect to see a "killed by amber alert" news story, because it just seems inevitable.

Re: Toronto area sent nuclear alerts by mistake

#37

Post by blondin »

GhostVII wrote: post #11

Even if it was not a mistake, why would they send a presedential alert to the entire province just to tell them that people 10km away from the nuclear plant are in no danger? Pretty absurd, wish I could fully disable these alerts until the government is actually competently using them.

i am not sure i understand the reactions here... why are people mad?

the first message was very reasonable. it even said there is "no danger". to check with media and authorities. the second said the first was human error.

if i were driving, i would stop the car, call 911 and ask if anything was going on. they would probably say no, then i would be on my way. instead there is now an investigation, and someone who is already having a very bad day for their mistake is going to get punished even harsher...

should we start having trainings about these so people realize the possibility that these will become useful one day instead of getting mad?

Re: Toronto area sent nuclear alerts by mistake

#38

Post by MiddleEndian »

slimed wrote: post #20
ghaff wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the US, I assumed most people turn AMBER alerts off on their phones. Some people seem to get mad about people disabling them but some people get mad at just about everything.

I highly doubt "most people" even know how to do this.

Most people I know forget about their existence but disable them as soon as they get one on a new phone.

Re: Toronto area sent nuclear alerts by mistake

#39

Post by Deinumite »

tenpies wrote: post #7
nolta wrote: post #6

I wonder how many people are killed per alert? These alerts (usually AMBER alerts) are sent to millions of people, accompanied by a loud and startling siren. You can imagine all sorts of "one-in-a-million" events. The surgeon woken in the middle of the night, who can't get back to sleep and makes a mistake the next day. The startled roofer falling off a ladder. Etc.

Not even that, the deaths and injuries are immediate for drivers. Canada implemented this in the worst way possible so that any alert gets the highest alert setting possible (Presidential: what would normally be reserved for an imminent attack) - bypassing silence, do not disturb, and any volume or device setting. So Imagine a truck driver at 3 am being suddenly startled by the blaring alert and then scrambling to sh…

I don't believe this is true. I received these alerts this morning, but as my phone is only on vibrate it did not produce any audio.
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