By now, you have probably heard about the emergency alert that was sent out by the Town of Tonawanda just after 9 a.m. today.

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The alert caught people by surprise and it unsettled many people who saw it pop up on their phones. It wasn't just the Town of Tonawanda, everyone with an iPhone appeared to get the message in the Buffalo region this morning.

The alert was part of a test program that says to follow COVID-19 guidance from the CDC.

Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz said it was a training error, made by the Town of Tonawanda's emergency manager.

More than two hours after the alert was sent, Tonawanda Town Supervisor Joseph Emminger issued an apology on Twitter on behalf of the Town of Tonawanda for the alert, that was clearly a mistake.

According to Emminger, the alert was sent out without notifying anyone else, including himself and the chief of police.

Emminger added that the message should not have been sent out through the emergency 911 system and that sending it out on the day and time it was (9 am on September 11th) is completly inappropriate.

The alert was only supposed to be a test alert for the Town of Tonawanda.

The Town of Tonawanda will be reviewing the events this morning and addressing this issue.

I work the overnights here at the station, so I wasn't awake when the alert was sent out, but it was what everyone was talking about when I caught up on what happened.

It was definitely not a good day or time for this alert to be sent out.

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