'Civil Emergency' message resulted from a glitch

HOMER - A cellular alert message distributed to phones across northern Georgia left many people scratching their heads Thursday night.

State officials said the message, that went out around 7:30 p.m., was to contain information about a Winter Storm Warning for all of north Georgia, but for some reason only a partial Civil Emergency message was sent, listing Banks and Bartow counties with no context.

Banks County 9-1-1/Emergency Management Agency Director Deidra Moore said the state will be distributing a corrected message via broadcast and social media.

Via Twitter, the Georgia Emergency Management Agency reported the following: "A Wireless Emergency Alert was sent to cell phones in 23 N. GA. counties to notify about a Winter Storm Warning. Not a civil emergency."

"We have received word from GEMA/Homeland Security, State Operations Center, that it was an error with the software," said Hall County Fire and EMS spokesman Scott Cagle.