Federal officials in New York are investigating an emergency alert system after a mistakenly truncated message about storm system Hermine wrongly advised TV watchers on Long Island of an ordered evacuation, authorities said Sunday. The Saturday night confusion started after Suffolk County emergency officials used an aspect of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's alert system for the first time since gaining access to it after Superstorm Sandy. Instead, somehow only the first part of the message — that an evacuation order had been issued — was broadcast to viewers. Nearly 3 million people live on Long Island, with 1.5 million people in Suffolk County and another roughly 1.3 in Nassau County, census records show. After county officials realized the misleading alert had been sent to the public around 7:30 p.m. Saturday from FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, a clarifying alert was subsequently issued, Miniutti said.

Source: ABC News September 04, 2016 23:56 UTC