Federal officials are investigating what went wrong Saturday when an emergency evacuation order for Long Island mistakenly aired on New York TV.
The incident occurred early Saturday morning, when Suffolk County officials tapped FEMA's emergency alert system to advise viewers that a voluntary evacuation had been issued for nearby Fire Island due to rough waters caused by the storm Hermine offshore. The Associated Press reported it was the first time they used the system since gaining access to it after Hurricane Sandy.
However, viewers only got the first part of the message, which said that an evacuation had been ordered. Key details like the evacuation being voluntary and only applying to the Fire Island area (a small section in Long Island's southwest corner) never aired.
It is not clear how many of Long Island’s 3 million residents saw the message, the AP said.
