Did Your Phone Buzz With a Flood Watch Alert Last Night?

Were you awakened last night when your smartphone buzzed to warn you of potential flash flooding in the area?

Many locals are saying yes.

Fairfax County posted a blurb on its website about it Friday at 11:30 a.m. to say, it wasn't us - it was the National Weather Service (NWS) using its new emergency alert capabilities to ping the phone of anyone in the area.

"You may have received a new kind of automatic alert on your mobile phone last night advising you of flooding threats. These are the new Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) built into newer smartphones," the blurb reads. "The National Weather Service sent last night’s alerts based on your location."

Fairfax County explained, Wireless Emergency Alerts are "free informational text messages sent to WEA-enabled phones within range of an imminent and dangerous local situation, severe weather event or AMBER alert."

"Fairfax County now has the capability to send these messages, too - but we did not send last night’s," the blurb on their website reads.

The County added, "We encourage you to keep these messages turned on so you can be warned of a danger based on your location."

The County said, though, residents can adjust alert settings on their devices. 

"You can opt-out of imminent hazard and AMBER alerts - but not Presidential alerts - but again, it is for your safety to be alerted to something like an imminent tornado based on your location if you’re at a park or inside your home. 

Reportedly, alerts like last night's "are not intended to be used frequently," the County said. 

"Opt-in alert systems like our Community Emergency Alert Network and other tools from the National Weather Service provide more frequent alerts," the County's website indicates.

To find out if your mobile device is capable of receiving WEA alerts, contact your mobile device carrier or visit CTIA  The Wireless Association.

For more information about Wireless Emergency Alerts, read the WEA Fact Sheet. More information on WEAs also is online at www.Ready.gov/alerts.

See Fairfax County's short video on smartphone emergency alerts above.

Did your website buzz you last night about the flash flood warning? If so, how did you feel about it? Tell us in the comments below.

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