Stunning lapses at Hawaii emergency alert system

Calls to improve procedures and protocol went ignored at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency before an employee erroneously sent out a false missile alert that sent the island state into an all-out panic earlier this year.

More than 300 emails — some of which are heavily and or completely redacted — released as part of a public records request provide insight into the shockingly lax work environment at the state agency behind the phony alert pushed to cell phones across Hawaii on Jan.13. It stood uncorrected for nearly 40 minutes.

In a note sent out just one day later, an employee, whose name is redacted, tells Hawaii Emergency management's then-Administrator Vern Miyagi about repeated requests across several planning sessions to include a “deactivation section” for the missile alert system in the event a threat is contained after the warning is already sent, Hawaii News Now reported.

“Thought my request for a protocol was not based on a concern about human error, had protocol been developed within the last two months, the delay yesterday would not have happened,” the email reads.

The need for protocol was brought up as early as Nov. 6, 2017 — nearly a month before the state implemented its ballistic missile alert system amid growing tensions with North Korea.

The same employee also expressed concern about workers inside the State Warning Point and suggested they have “work other than monitoring to ensure they are not distracted.” But the suggestion was met with resistance, which “has created an environment without stimulation that leads to other types of distractions.”