Hawaii changes protocol after alarm sets off panic
False warning of ballistic missile took 38 minutes to correct
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said Sunday that people should trust government alert systems as Hawaii announced a new protocol after a false alarm over a ballistic missile threat.
The blunder in Hawaii, which set off widespread panic amid escalating tensions with North Korea, was a “very unfortunate mistake,” Nielsen said. The emergency alert Saturday morning sounded on hundreds of thousands of cellphones and warned of an imminent missile strike.
Vern Miyagi, Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency’s administrator, told USA TODAY he took responsibility for the false alarm and for the 38-minute delay in recalling it. The message read: “Ballistic Missile Threat Inbound To Hawaii. Seek Immediate Shelter. This Is Not A Drill.”
Officials knew within three minutes that the error happened, but it took 38 minutes for the message to be sent out by the Emergency Alert System because that button was not programmed and in place, Miyagi said. “That’s on me.”
The agency has implemented a new alert protocol since the mistake.
Tests and actual missile launch notifications from now on will require activation and verification by two people, the agency said. And a pre-scripted cancellation command has been written and can be issued within seconds of an error, Miyagi said. Nielsen, speaking on Fox News Sun
day, said she would hate for anybody to dismiss government warnings. She said that the alerts are vital and that she doesn’t want anyone to “draw the wrong conclusion.”
Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, described the fear that spread across the island as thousands abandoned cars, ran for cover or cowered in the hallways of their homes.
“You can only imagine ... the panic, the terror, the chaos and confusion that ensued when over a million peo- ple in Hawaii, plus many visitors who were visiting Hawaii, got that alert on their cellphones,” Gabbard told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. “Now understanding that they literally just have minutes, minutes to say goodbye to their loved ones, to find their loved ones, to try to find some kind for shelter somewhere.”
The drill sowed panic and confusion but also showed that emergency management officials need to step up outreach efforts about what to do in case of a real missile threat, Miyagi said.
People should “shelter in place,” which means immediately putting as much distance and as many concrete barriers between themselves and the outdoors, where deadly radioactive fallout would dissipate after the first day or two, he said.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige, a Democrat, also suspended all future drills until Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency has completed a full analysis of what happened.
“I know firsthand how today’s false alarm affected all of us here in Hawaii, and I am sorry for the pain and confusion it caused,” Ige said in a statement. “I, too, am extremely upset about this.”