Nuclear plant accidentally sends voice alert warning people to evacuate

A beautiful day on the beach in New Hampshire was interrupted Tuesday morning by a shocking alert.

Beachgoers were enjoying their day until it came to an abrupt end when sirens started going off. People on the beach and in surrounding neighborhoods heard, "Attention. There is a problem at Seabrook Nuclear Power Station."

The announcement warned people to evacuate at once.

"I heard someone say over a speaker there's a problem at the power plant and to stay away from the beach, and I thought it was scary," said Noelle Quinn.

"It did kind of freak the neighborhood out," another woman said.

Quinn and others in Seabrook had no idea what was happening when the sirens started going off just before 11 a.m.

People in Hampton Beach heard the same warning, like Paul Driscoll, who was visiting for the week from Stoneham.

"People started coming out of their cottages ... we couldn't believe what we just heard," Driscoll said.

Residents and tourists started packing up and heading out.

"We're seeing other people run off the beach, we're pretty scared at that point and we're just running," said Kylie Croteau, another person who heard the alert.

It turned out to be a mistake.

Operators of the power plant said they are aware of the sirens calling for an evacuation and released in a statement, "The sirens' activation was sent in error during testing of the system ... Seabrook Station is currently operating with no issues."

Things got back to normal fairly quickly on the beach and boardwalk and in the surrounding neighborhood.

The Seabrook plant is apologizing for what happened.