For 38 minutes on Saturday, Hawaii was sent into absolute terror and panic.
Hawaii residents and visitors were shocked and alarmed when they recieved a text notication that read, “EMERGENCY ALERT. BALLISTIC MISSLE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”
Rightly so, people panicked. They called their loved ones, started weeping, ran to find any sort of shelter. It was like a horror movie had come to life, springing into action without giving anyone a chance to process.
Turns out, it was a horrible false alarm.
According to BBC News, Hawaii’s Governor David Ige explained that a staff member pressed the incorrect button, which sent out the terrifying alert.
The alert was sent to phones, but also was on the radio and television.
38 minutes of pure horror for the residents and visitors of Hawaii. The panic spread quickly to loved ones in other states and countries.
Twitter blew up, with people posting everything they were sent from their families in Hawaii.
It happened during a shift change. Evidently, the message was sent even despite a prompt on screen needing confirmation.
“There is no missile threat or danger to the state of Hawaii.”
Despite the correction, people were badly shaken up.
“I am sorry for the pain and confusion it caused. I, too, am extremely upset about this,” Governor Ige said.
“It was unacceptable that this went out in the first place but the fact that it took so long for them to put out that second message, to calm people, to allay their fears that this was a mistake, a false alarm is something that has to be fixed, corrected with people held accountable,” Hawaii Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard told ABC news.
In fact, he was playing golf (shocker!) in Florida when the event happened. He’s been criticized for not say anything.
Why? Because of their proximity to North Korea. So getting an emergency text alert of an inbound missile is nothing short of harrowing.
The texts and phone calls that families sent to their loved ones are absolutely devastating. Thank goodness it was just a terrifying false alarm.
Another said that people screamed and ran out of a restaurant upon learning of the message.
The situation is deeply unfortunate, but we’re just thankful everyone in Hawaii is safe.
