'Fabulous memes': Smith jokes about Alberta Emergency Alert fiasco

Alberta Emergency Alerts are used to issue messages about life-threatening emergencies such as tornadoes, wildfires, floods or Amber Alerts.

Premier Danielle Smith addressed the overabundance of emergency alerts Albertans received on Wednesday, saying it prompted some "fabulous" memes.

Officials warned they would be testing the Alberta Emergency Alert system at 1:55 p.m. on March 1.

However, once it came time for the test, a glitch in the system caused way more than one alert to be sent.

"I think some of you got wrongly seven indications on your phones about that," Smith said to a sold-out crowd at a Alberta Enterprise Group event in Calgary on Thursday.

She said the memes making the rounds after the error were wonderful.

"I like the one with the cat sitting in front of the button, pressing it seven times."

The alerts are issued on a number of platforms including websites, social media, the Alberta Emergency Alert mobile app and directly to Albertans via compatible cellphones.

They are used to issue messages about life-threatening emergencies such as tornadoes, wildfires, floods or Amber Alerts.

Public Safety and Emergency Services Minister Mike Ellis said Wednesday the province was testing a new national system at the time.

"It won’t surprise you, that our system worked fine, it was the integration with the federal system that caused the problem," Smith said Thursday. "It was so typical, wasn’t it?"

According to the emergency notification system archive, nine alerts were sent between 1:55 and 2:01 p.m.