See tons of airport travelers get Presidential Alert at once
What's it sound like when Wednesday's text-alert test buzzes dozens of phones all at once?
- Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year" award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Airports are noisy even on regular days, what with jet engines revving and suitcases clattering. But on Wednesday, airports, malls and even libraries all rattled with the same text alert noise, as millions of cell phones received the first ever Presidential Alert text message.
The official Twitter account of Charlotte Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, N.C., recorded and shared a short video of the exact moment the alert popped up on phones (11:18 a.m. PT/2:18 p.m. ET).
Travelers walking through the airport seem unbothered by the group "beeeeeeeep!" Some check their phones, but others, perhaps remembering the numerous warnings that this was only a test, keep heading on their journeys.
The #PresidentialAlert, as heard in the Atrium. 🎥 CLT Emergency Management Coordinator Michael Tobin pic.twitter.com/hN0Xw9AJOF
— CLT Airport (@CLTAirport) October 3, 2018
"And not one single person in there gave a damn. Charlotte y'all need to care more," wrote one Twitter user.
And not one single person in there gave a damn. Charlotte y’all need to care more😐
— ❌Crystal Shuler❌ (@cshuler233) October 3, 2018
The airport wasn't the only Twitter account to share a video of simultaneous alerts going off. Staffers at BBC North America decided to put all their phones together just before the alert and take a video of the results.
BBC journalists do the unthinkable - part with their phones - for the #presidentialalert https://t.co/Z27gItu6Ji pic.twitter.com/ESTXRNcymR
— BBC North America (@BBCNorthAmerica) October 3, 2018