Software issue blamed for phones receiving false 'Evacuate Now' order in several Minn. counties

State emergency management officials are blaming a software issue for cellphones mistakenly receiving an "Evacuate Now" order in counties stretching from east-central to northern Minnesota.

The message went out at 7:52 a.m. Wednesday and said, "Emergency Alert in this area until 8:06AM CST Evacuate Now HSEM, St. P" before cutting off.

Recipients were told "within 10 minutes" that there was no evacuation being ordered, said Bruce Gordon, a spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety (DPS).

The message, part of a weekly test and not intended to be sent to the public by the DPS' Homeland Security and Emergency Management division, was received on cellphones in parts of Aitkin, Carlton, Cass, Itasca, Pine and St. Louis counties.

Also, people with mobile devices who were near these counties also may have received the test message, Doug Neville, another DPS spokesman, said Thursday. That's because the message was sent over cell towers that send signals that go beyond county boundaries.

At least one person far from the acknowledged area reported getting the alert while streaming a local television station over YouTube TV.

Rob Martinson, of Chanhassen, said he heard screeching and beeping sounds and then saw these words scrolling across the top of his screen:

Then came an automated voice that repeated the words as they looped back around. It was 30 seconds from the alert starting before the voice explained it was a weekly test.

As for why the message slipped out, "the preliminary review of the incident points to a software issue," Neville said. "The message was properly marked as an internal test, but the software did not recognize the message as a test."

Homeland Security and Emergency Management is working with the vendor to ensure the system is working properly, he said. Additionally, the agency is implementing steps to "triple-check [that] the software test settings running in the background are working properly."

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482