A Tsunami warning from CFB Esquimalt this morning caused some alarm when it urged residents to "head to higher ground -- this is not a drill".
Karen MacEwan, Principal Macaulay Elementary says children were outside enjoying recess at the time:
"The kids were pretty surprised, as were the adults. They immediately started ushering the students into the school."
MacEwan says teachers flew into action getting kids back into classrooms, doing head counts, and preparing to evacuate before they learned it was all a mistake.
Base Spokesperson Captain Jenn Jackson says the base was preparing to take part in the Great BC Shakeout when something went wrong with their Emergency Warning system:
"We deeply regret any inconvenience, and especially the confusion that followed this announcement. And we want to assure the public that in the future we would not be using the real tone, we'll stick to our test tones for any exercises like this. "
Jackson says there was a technical glitch in the Emergency Warning system that resulted in the real notification being broadcast on several towers before it could be stopped. It was also heard over a wider area because cloud cover helps sound travel.