Small oversight in the Black Mesa Emergency Broadcast

[AsinoEsel]

So, first of all, the Black Mesa Emergency Broadcast is pretty awesome. It gets played by a radio in Office Complex, if you didn’t know.
But… it kinda gets the time wrong.

@Emergency Broadcast

“The following message is transmitted at the request of local authorities. At 9:47 AM, Mountain Time, a disaster of unknown type has occurred at the Black Mesa Research facility, causing significant damage and failure to various power and communication systems in the surrounding areas. An immediate evacuation order has been issued for all residents within a 75 mile radius of the facility, and on-site military has been dispatched to provide assistance. Make sure to bring an emergency supply of food, water, clothing, first aid kit, flashlights with extra batteries, and battery powered radios. Follow local evacuation routes which have been marked by local authorities and only use one vehicle. Do not return to the warning area until the all clear has been given. If you are not in the evacuation zone stay where you are. If you are within the evacuation area and have no transportation locate your nearest police department or military officer. Do not use telephones or cell phones except in the case of emergencies. Stay tuned to local news media outlets for further details and information on this situation.”

So, first of all, I am guessing that 9:47 is referencing DST or something along those lines. I’m not that good with timezones, whatever. Fair enough, I don’t mind that.
My point is - the Resonance Cascade didn’t occur at that time. That’s Inbound. The resonance cascade is happening a few minutes later, at 8:58 according to the Half-Life Wiki (quoting Marc Laidlaw as source). It’s a small little detail that nobody is ever going to notice, but hey…

[Nova_Terra]

@AsinoEsel

Inbound. The resonance cascade is happening a few minutes later, at 8:58 according to the Half-Life Wiki (quoting Marc Laidlaw as source). It’s a small little detail that nobody is ever going to notice, but hey…

I guess 9:47 AM is the time when the US government was informed about the scale of Black Mesa disaster also you can see that HECU is already dispatched from that report so it seems they spend about 30 minutes discussing what to do with Black Mesa and decided to report about it only one hour later.

[AsinoEsel]

I guess that would make sense, although that sounds like kind of a big coincidence to me. Exactly one hour after Gordon enters the tram? Hm.

[Nova_Terra]

@AsinoEsel

I guess that would make sense, although that sounds like kind of a big coincidence to me. Exactly one hour after Gordon enters the tram? Hm.

Yeah,it seems like we’ve spend about one hour to reach office complex,plus HECU needed about 20 minutes to arrive in Black Mesa to meet the first survivors,to see the scale and enemies and to report it for their HQ.

[AsinoEsel]

I’m not doubting that, I agree, the timings check out — but exactly 60 minutes, on the minute exact? Especially seeing as “a disaster of unknown type” sounds more like the resonance cascade as opposed to HECU marines being deployed.
For me it seems more likely that it was just a small oversight by the guy who made it, as the recording wasn’t originally made by one of the core Black Mesa devs to begin with AFAIK. But yeah, ignoring that, your explanation sounds the most likely in my opinion.