Tornado alerts sent to phones in Winnipeg leave some confused

Many in Winnipeg received an emergency alert on their phones warning of a tornado, even though a warning wasn’t issued for the city. CTV’s Danton Unger explains

When a tornado warning popped up on Joy Hibert’s phone Wednesday evening, she wasn’t sure if it was a real emergency or a false alarm.

“I received multiple alerts, both on my personal phone, my work phone, and then I was at home, so I was seeing them on the TV as well,” she told CTV News.

Like Hibert, many people in Winnipeg received emergency alerts warning of a tornado even though there was no tornado watch or warning in effect for Winnipeg.

“I wasn’t sure if this was a test or a real alert, so I reviewed the alert and then checked Environment Canada just to see the vicinity of the tornado warnings and make sure, you know, I didn’t need to bunker down in my basement,” she said. “It was a little confusing for me.”

Environment Canada did issue tornado warnings for areas northeast of Winnipeg, including Dugald, where funnel clouds were spotted. But as far away as Downtown Winnipeg, phones lit up with alerts that read, “Tornado in this mobile coverage area. Take immediate cover in a basement or interior room if weather threat approaches.”

Crawford Luke, a meteorologist with Environment Canada, said this is due to the cell tower network.

“Basically, not only are all the cell phone towers in that area triggered when a tornado warning goes out, but any other cell tower around that area that has any part of its coverage in that community,” he said.

Meaning users in Winnipeg could get alerts meant for areas outside the city.

“The whole ‘crying wolf syndrome’ or whatever you want to call it, I think there is definitely concern in that sense,” Luke said, adding Environment Canada is planning to modernize the way it sends out warnings, partly to address those concerns.

“That will hopefully help further cut back the amount of sort of perceived false alarms that are going out.”

Until that happens, Hibert is worried the next time these alerts go out, some may not take it seriously.

“There’s a high likelihood that people may ignore it,” she said.

Luke said you should always take an Environment Canada warning or alert seriously. He said if you get an alert, check your surroundings and take action if needed.