Residents on St. Croix received a frightening message at about 10:28 a.m. this morning: “Civil Emergency in this area until 11:41 p.m. EST. Monitor Radio or TV VI-Alert. Type: Severe Alert.” The message blared on phones all throughout the island — it even came through landlines. Immediately, confused and terrified residents began inquiring.
Turns out it was nothing that called for such a fretful warning. Apparently, according to a release the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency issued Wednesday afternoon, the alert was to notify residents that St. Croix’s 911 system was experiencing technical difficulties because of a power outage. But the alert that many residents received said nothing about 911 being down, or that temporary phone lines were activated in the interim to accommodate calls, as was revealed through this afternoon’s VITEMA release. Instead, the alert sent a shiver through the community, leaving thousands guessing what was really taking place.
As news spread that the alert was not that serious, people started joking about it on social media. One of the funniest was the idea that President Donald Trump was preparing to sell the territory to Russia. An impossibility, of course, but funny nonetheless.
And by the way, the 911 system is back in operation, according to VITEMA.
Tags: us virgin islands, vi alert
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