NASHVILLE — Were you rattled this morning by Tennessee's unannounced test of its statewide emergency alert system over your smart phone or radio?

Well, Patrick Sheehan, director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, has gotten your messages loud and clear — and is responding with an apology.

"We have received calls and messages from hundreds of Tennesseans letting us know about problems with receiving messages and the concerns caused by the messages received," Sheehan said in a statement. "In many instances the caveats that the message was part of a test were not received, making it seem like an emergency was imminent."

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Sheehan said that "while many are understanding, knowing that we need to test our systems, many have voiced their concerns about the angst this test caused. Please accept my sincerest apologies for any inconvenience today's test caused."

The purpose of the statewide test of the Emergency Alert System and Wireless Emergency Alerts to mobile devices was to assess the readiness and effectiveness of the system used to communicate to the public during emergencies. TEMA says it is "essential to ensure we can communicate to save lives and protect property."

Today's test was timed to coincide with the beginning of National Preparedness Month and "was designed to have limited impact on the public," according to Sheehan, who said officials spent several weeks "working with our partners, EAS participants across the state and the public to prepare for today's test.

"Unfortunately, during today's test we learned valuable lessons about the Emergency Alert System, our protocols, and areas to improve on the delivery of these types of alerts in the future," he said.

The TEMA director said that as a result, "in the coming days and weeks TEMA will be reevaluating our protocols and systems. We will not be conducting any public tests of the system in the foreseeable future."

"We do these tests to make certain we know about problems before we need the systems," Sheehan said. "In this regard alone, this test has been very valuable."

Nonetheless, he added, "again, please accept my apologies on behalf of TEMA and my gratitude for your patience and understanding."