oddly enough

oddly enough

Weather service accidentally sends Conn. tsunami alert

HARTFORD, Conn.

The Connecticut shoreline was briefly under a tsunami warning before the National Weather Service disclosed the alert had been sent by mistake during a routine monthly test.

The Weather Service’s office in New York sent the warning Thursday morning to its radio and emergency alert systems, which resulted in the alert being mentioned on local broadcasts and Twitter posts. The warning was for all four coastal counties and part of Long Island Sound.

The Weather Service later issued a statement saying there was no real tsunami threat and the warning was sent inadvertently during a routine monthly test by the service’s National Tsunami Warning Center in Alaska.

The Connecticut Broadcasters Association says the alert ran on several Connecticut stations.

There are no records indicating a tsunami has ever hit Connecticut.

Mascot sends recovering official back to hospital

TEMPE, Ariz.

Arizona State University’s Sun Devils mascot doesn’t always know when he’s being devilish.

KNXV-TV reported Wednesday that Sparky the mascot playfully jumped on a suburban Phoenix official recovering from back surgery at a football game. Tempe City Councilman David Schapira says he laughed until he felt a pop, which he later learned was a back muscle tearing.

The university apologized for its mascot’s “excessive exuberance” and offered to help pay medical expenses related to his delayed recovery.

Schapira says his wife was holding his cane while he took a photo on the sidelines Friday, and that’s when the mascot spotted him and pounced. The run-in sent him back to the hospital.

The lifelong ASU fan says he’s not mad at Sparky but may wear a warning sign next time.

Man feared dead on highway was napping

WIND GAP, Pa.

State police say a man feared dead along an eastern Pennsylvania highway was just napping.

Lehighvalleyonline.com reports several motorists called Northampton County 911 dispatchers when they saw the man’s body Monday morning along Route 33 in Wind Gap. That’s about 75 miles north of Philadelphia.

But troopers who responded say they found the man was homeless and merely sleeping. They woke him up, and he left the area without incident.

Police say the man was lying against a guard rail near a highway exit. Motorists have to slow down to use the ramp, which is why police believe so many motorists saw the man and called 911.

Associated Press