Missile alert alarms Hawaii
Confusion, outrage as error causes panic
NEW YORK: An early-morning emergency alert mistakenly warning of an incoming ballistic missile attack was dispatched to cellphones across Hawaii early Saturday, setting off widespread panic in a state that was already extremely anxious because of escalating tensions between the United States and North Korea.
Officials recalled the alert about 40 minutes after it was issued in a scramble of confusion over why it happened. Outrage was immediately expressed by state officials and among people who live in what is normally a famously tranquil part of the Pacific.
Officials said the alert had resulted from human error and was not the work of hackers or a foreign government. At no time, officials said, was there any indication that a nuclear attack had been launched on the United States.
“The public must have confidence in our emergency alert system,” Governor David Ige said. “I am working to get to the bottom of this so we can prevent an error of this type in the future.”
The Federal Communications Commission announced Saturday afternoon it had begun “a full investigation into the FALSE missile alert in Hawaii”.
The alert went out at about 8.10am, lighting up phones of people still in bed or up for an early surf. “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” it read.
People flocked to shelters, crowding highways in scenes of terror and helplessness. “I was running through all the scenarios in my head, but there was nowhere to go, nowhere to pull over to,” said Mike Staskow, a retired military captain.
At Konawaena High School on the Island of Hawaii, where a high school wrestling championship was taking place, school officials, more accustomed to responding to alerts of high surf or tsunamis, moved people to the centre of the gym as they tried to figure out how to shelter someone from a nuclear missile.
“Everyone cooperated,” said Kellye Krug, athletic director at the school. “Once they were gathered, we let them use cellphones to reach loved ones. There were a couple kids who were emotional, the coaches were right there to console kids. After the retraction was issued, we gave kids time to reach out again.”
Matt LoPresti, a state representative, told CNN that he and his family headed for a bathroom. “I was sitting in the bathtub with my children, saying our prayers,” he said.
Around the Ko’a Kea Hotel at Poipu Beach on the island of Kauai, guests looked quizzically around, wondering aloud if the alert was real. Many made their way to the main lobby, where they were invited by hotel staff to shelter in the basement parking garage among the vehicles. Very little information was provided, and the sense of urgency and panic rose.
Within several minutes, about 30 people were huddled in the garage, some making phone calls or scanning Twitter for details. Others gathered together near the edges of the garage, trying to make sense of the alert. At least one young guest was crying.
Word spread quickly after Tulsi Gabbard of Hawaii tweeted at 8.19am that the alert was a false alarm. The hotel staff, however, told guests not to leave the property until they got the all clear. Many decided on their own that it was safe to venture out once tweets began appearing from officials saying the alert was false.
In Washington, the White House said President Donald Trump had been informed of the events. “The president has been briefed on the state of Hawaii’s emergency management exercise,” said Lindsay Walters, a deputy press secretary.
Senator Brian Schatz of Hawaii said that the alarm was false. “What happened today is totally inexcusable,” he said. “The whole state was terrified. There needs to be tough and quick accountability and a fixed process.”