KEY LARGO, Fla. — Residents of the Ocean Reef area of Key Largo received a chilling message from the county on Tuesday.
“From Monroe County Emergency Management: Turkey Point NUCLEAR POWER PLANT SITE AREA EMERGENCY,” the email, sent by the county at around 10:45 a.m., read. “Everyone in Ocean Reef, Key Largo Anglers Club, and Card Sound Road should monitor local media for further information and instructions.”
But officials said it was sent by mistake.
A follow-up email sent about 10 minutes later reads, “FALSE ALARM. There is NO EMERGENCY AT TURKEY POINT NUCLEAR POWER PLANT or danger to Monroe County. No further action is required. FALSE ALARM.”
Officials said it came during a large “multi-agency” drill at the Miami-Dade power plant and Monroe County’s Emergency Operations Center in Marathon was activated in test mode for the drill.
A Monroe County spokesperson said the alert was drafted in “test mode” for the drill but somehow it got sent to Ocean Reef residents.
“Two corrective messages to clarify the error and false alarm were immediately sent to Ocean Reef residents,” a county spokesperson said in a statement. “Monroe County Emergency Management officials apologize for the accidental transmission of the message and have discussed the error with their partner agencies to avoid mistakes in the future.”
The spokesperson said there will be a meeting to determine what led to the false alert.
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