SEMINOLE COUNTY, Fla – Some Seminole County residents said they were startled Wednesday morning when their cellphones alerted them to “an evacuation order” but nothing else.

The alert was raised around 8 a.m. as Hurricane Milton was slowly moving toward central Florida and was expected to make landfall on the Gulf Coast as a major hurricane.

The bulletin read: “Emergency Alert, Seminole County has issued an evacuation order for Hurricane Milton.”

News 6 heard from Jessica Brunner, who lives in Seminole County, who tells us she received the alert when she was barely awake.

“I woke up and was immediately startled by the notification,” she said. “I was barely awake trying to think of how to keep my cats and myself safe. I was scared and confused.”

(RELATED: Track Milton: cones, models, more | COUNTY-BY-COUNTY: Impact on Central Florida | SCHEDULE: Milton in Central Florida | Milton is one of the strongest hurricanes in the Atlantic Milton’s “dirty side” is different | What do evacuation zones mean? | Download the FREE News 6 Hurricane app)

Although the county clarified the message about 10 minutes later with a second warning, specifying that it applied to people in mobile homes, low-lying areas and residents with special needs, commenters expressed their displeasure in relevant social media posts.

“Your initial warning terrified this community and you failed to clarify the matter, leaving people scrambling for accurate information,” one commenter wrote.

In a statement, a district spokesman acknowledged that the initial warning did not specify which populations would be affected. He explained that the warning system used only leaves enough space for short messages and referred to the second warning for more narrow information.

In the first evacuation alert, details about specific populations were not attached to each device. IPAWS alerts only allow 90 characters. The second warning detailed the evacuation warning for RVs, flood-prone areas and those with special needs.

Andy Wontor | Head of Public Information Department | Office of Communications

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