Current:Home > ScamsDrones warned New York City residents about storm flooding. The Spanish translation was no bueno-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Drones warned New York City residents about storm flooding. The Spanish translation was no bueno
View Date:2024-12-24 07:15:25
NEW YORK (AP) — New York City emergency management officials have apologized for a hard-to-understand flood warning issued in Spanish by drones flying overhead in some neighborhoods.
City officials had touted the high-tech message-delivery devices ahead of expected flash flooding Tuesday. But when video of a drone delivering the warning in English and Spanish was shared widely on social media, users quickly mocked the pronunciation of the Spanish version delivered to a city where roughly a quarter of all residents speak the language at home.
“How is THAT the Spanish version? It’s almost incomprehensible,” one user posted on X. “Any Spanish speaking NYer would do better.”
“The city couldn’t find a single person who spoke Spanish to deliver this alert?” another incredulous X user wrote.
“It’s unfortunate because it sounds like a literal google translation,” added another.
Zach Iscol, the city’s emergency management commissioner, acknowledged on X that the muddled translation “shouldn’t have happened” and promised that officials were working to “make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
In a follow-up post, he provided the full text of the message as written in Spanish and explained that the problem was in the recording of the message, not the translation itself.
Iscol’s agency has said the message was computer generated and went out in historically flood-prone areas in four of the city’s five boroughs: Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island.
Flash floods have been deadly for New Yorkers living in basement apartments, which can quickly fill up in a deluge. Eleven people drowned in such homes in 2021 as the remnants of Hurricane Ida drenched the city.
In follow-up emails Wednesday, the agency noted that the drone messaging effort was a first-of-its-kind pilot for the city and was “developed and approved following our standard protocols, just like all our public communications.” It declined to say what changes would be made going forward.
In an interview with The New York Times, Iscol credited Mayor Eric Adams with the initial idea.
“You know, we live in a bubble, and we have to meet people where they are in notifications so they can be prepared,” the Democrat said at a press briefing Tuesday.
Adams, whose office didn’t immediately comment Wednesday, is a self-described “tech geek” whose administration has embraced a range of curious-to-questionable technological gimmicks.
His office raised eyebrows last year when it started using artificial intelligence to make robocalls that contorted the mayor’s own voice into several languages he doesn’t actually speak, including Mandarin and Yiddish.
The administration has also tapped drone technology to monitor large gatherings and search for sharks on beaches.
The city’s police department, meanwhile, briefly toyed with using a robot to patrol the Times Square subway station.
Last month, it unveiled new AI-powered scanners to help keep guns out of the nation’s busiest subway system. That pilot effort, though, is already being met with skepticism from riders and the threat of a lawsuit from civil liberties advocates.
___
Follow Philip Marcelo at twitter.com/philmarcelo.
veryGood! (54686)
Related
- Wicked's Ethan Slater Shares How Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo Set the Tone on Set
- TikTok says it regrets Indonesia’s decision to ban e-commerce sales on social media platforms
- Israel says it foiled Iranian plot to target, spy on senior Israeli politicians
- Storm Elias crashes into a Greek city, filling homes with mud and knocking out power
- Week 10 fantasy football rankings: PPR, half-PPR and standard leagues
- A fire breaks out for the second time at a car battery factory run by Iran’s Defense Ministry
- United Airlines will make changes for people with wheelchairs after a government investigation
- United Airlines will make changes for people with wheelchairs after a government investigation
- Jack Del Rio leaving Wisconsin’s staff after arrest on charge of operating vehicle while intoxicated
- Tired of pumpkin spice? Baskin-Robbins' Apple Cider Donut scoop returns for October
Ranking
- 'Serial swatter': 18-year-old pleads guilty to making nearly 400 bomb threats, mass shooting calls
- Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers opens up about multiple strokes: 'I couldn't speak'
- Nearly a third of the US homeless population live in California. Here's why.
- Hispanic Influencers Share Curated Fashion Collections From Amazon's The Drop
- Larry Hobbs, who guided AP’s coverage of Florida news for decades, has died at 83
- Cheese lovers rejoice: The CurderBurger is coming back to Culver's menu for a limited time
- Kylie Jenner Turns Heads With Bangin' Look During Red Hot Paris Fashion Week Appearance
- How investigators unraveled the mystery behind the shocking murder of Jamie Faith
Recommendation
-
Volkswagen, Mazda, Honda, BMW, Porsche among 304k vehicles recalled: Check car recalls here
-
New bill seeks to pressure police nationwide to take inventory of untested rape kits or lose funding
-
As migration surges in Americas, ‘funds simply aren’t there’ for humanitarian response, UN says
-
Authors discuss AR-15’s history from LA garage to cultural lightning rod
-
Army veteran reunites with his K9 companion, who served with him in Afghanistan
-
Bad Company singer Paul Rodgers opens up about multiple strokes: 'I couldn't speak'
-
How Kelly Ripa and Mark Consuelos' Daughter Lola Feels About Paparazzi After Growing Up in the Spotlight
-
FAFSA's the main source of student aid but don't miss the CSS profile for a chance for more