Tsunami alert: in Grau-du-Roi, in Gard, the exercise worked… but not for everyone

Au Grau-du-Roi, on veut prévenir les risques. Archives Midi Libre – MiKAEL ANISSET

Like other municipalities on the Mediterranean coast, Le Grau-du-Roi was affected by an alert exercise on mobile phones.

Test the alert chain, raise public awareness of natural risks and evaluate reactions to the alert. These were the objectives of the civil security exercise set up in nine coastal departments in the south of France.

In Grau-du-Roi, in Gard, a number of people received the call. Starting, of course, with the mayor of the town Robert Crauste: "We received three messages, including the last, which announces that the exercise is over".

"A not very pleasant ringtone"

Deputy director of the general administration department of the City, Philippe Houny was the municipal referent in connection with the prefecture of the southern defense and security zone: "The first message warned us of& #39;an earthquake with the possibility of a tsunami. The second message was a general alert. It arrived in the form of an SMS, with a not very pleasant ringtone that goes off by itself. When you pick up your phone, the message appears immediately. The third message was the end of year message." 

According to our information, several residents on site did not receive the alerts. "I didn't receive anything and neither did my colleagues around me,” remarked a resident. "It is possible that only narrow-minded telephones received them, note& ;nbsp;Philippe Houny. This must be checked with state services. If one day there is an alert, everyone there, including tourists, must have it. Surveys have been carried out which must be studied to produce a map of people who have received, or not, the call. So that in the event of a real alert, everyone is notified.