amber alert noise

This is how people reacted to the Canada-wide emergency alert

If your phone made a disturbingly loud noise that was accompanied by an emergency message at precisely 2:55 p.m. this afternoon, you were far from alone. 

A national test of the Alert Ready system is being conducted across Canada today at different times depending on the province. 

The system is meant to send out an urgent message in the case of an emergency or threat to public safety. 

"Alert Ready delivers critical and potentially life-saving alerts to Canadians through television, radio and LTE-connected and compatible wireless devices," the system's website states. 

The Ontario alert arrived right on time this afternoon, and as per usual, everyone has something to say about it. 

Many are simply posting that the alert worked the way it should have, while highlighting the importance of this kind of system.

Others are warning that calling 911 is not the right response to a potentially-life saving alert. 

In fact, there might actually be more people complaining about complainers than those actually whining about the alert. 

But of course, it wouldn't be an emergency alert without at least a few grumpy Canadians complaining that the noise woke them from their beauty sleep. 

And a select few didn't complain about the alert itself, but they did suggest the sound be changed to something slightly less alarming. 

Some also took to social media to complain about how the alert messed with their electronic devices. 

And many made fun of the robotic voice's attempt to read the french portion of the alert. 

And while it seems people are complaining about this alert far less than usual, there's a good chance it's simply because this one didn't go off in the middle of the night. 

Lead photo by

Lauren O'Neil


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