COLUMBIA, SC (WBTW) – The South Carolina Emergency Management Division issued a wireless emergency alert for the coronavirus, causing so much traffic the website crashed.

The SCEMD website received 10 times more traffic than any other incident they’ve activated for, including hurricanes, the agency said. The alert directed people here to the site.

The emergency alert sent to phones was: “Public Safety Alert, NON-ESSENTIAL BUSINESS TO CLOSE. PLEASE STAY HOME. STOP THE SPREAD OF COVID19.” This caused 650 hits a second from unique users, the agency reported. 

Officials said the site, scemd.org, will be back online shortly.