An unusual alarm began sounding on the cell phones of Florida residents, alerting the populace to the unusual time.

At around 4:45 a.m. this Thursday, a text message from the Florida Broadcasters Association conducting a test of its emergency alert system reached the phones.

These types of alerts are used to provide messages about upcoming threats such as floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, or other attention-getting scenarios. The tests are common to know the proper operation of the message transmission.

“This alarm should have come on TV and not disturb anyone who was already asleep,” said the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which apologized for the incident.

The entity maintains a schedule of tests, which take place alternately in the afternoon and morning. A new one is scheduled for May 22 around 2 p.m.

Governor Ron De Santis described the use of the system as inappropriate at the time.

“I have directed FL Director of Emergency Management, Kevin Guthrie, to immediately account for the test of the emergency warning system in the early hours of the morning. This was a completely inappropriate use of this system,” he said.