WASHINGTON — An emergency alert in Hawaii that urged citizens to seek shelter from an inbound ballistic missile was a false alarm, according to Representative Tulsi Gabbard.
The alert however caused a lot of alarm and fear on social media and in the state.
WTOP’s John Aaron was in Hawaii on his honeymoon when the alert went out.
“We woke up to quite a scare this morning, an alert in our hotel room over the PA system told us that there was an incoming missile threat, this was not a drill and there was a report of a ballistic missile that was inbound to Hawaii,” Aaron told WTOP just minutes after the alert was declared a false alarm. “Those are never words that I have heard anything remotely like in my life.”
Aaron and his new wife grabbed their phones and clothes and tried to find shelter in a supply closet in their hotel.
“A very chaotic and nerve-racking scene, some people were crying, a lot of people were frantic. I was just trying to find somewhere safe,” Aaron said.
The alarm began when CNN associate producer Amanda Golden tweeted out a screenshot of the alert.
Just received this alert in Hawaii pic.twitter.com/VCHwRdG9Bc
— Amanda Golden (@amandawgolden) January 13, 2018
Politico reporter Tim Alberta tweeted that sirens were going off on the island and military personnel were bunkering down.
Sirens were going off on the island and military personnel were bunkering down — that is worth covering in a calm, careful way, IMO. https://t.co/mGuY8yWyGp
— Tim Alberta (@TimAlberta) January 13, 2018
Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency tweeted that there is no missile threat to Hawaii, prompting questions as to why the alert went out.
NO missile threat to Hawaii.
— Hawaii EMA (@Hawaii_EMA) January 13, 2018
Although news of the alarm being false spread quickly, the terrifying effects are likely to last a long time.
“Obviously all of the tension we’ve heard, the bluster between North Korea and the U.S., it really hit home that this would be the effect of that. The possibility of a missile being inbound to Hawaii presumably from North Korea, although no one said that, that possibility does not seem that ridiculous at the moment,” Aaron said.
Jittery morning in Maui even after all-clear given. Incoming ballistic missile – over the hotel PA – are the most terrifying words I have ever heard.
— John Aaron (@JohnAaronWTOP) January 13, 2018
Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii, said the false alarm was based on human error and that there is “nothing more important to Hawai’i than professionalizing and fool-proofing this process.”
There is no missile threat. It was a false alarm based on a human error. There is nothing more important to Hawai‘i than professionalizing and fool-proofing this process.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) January 13, 2018
Schatz added that the error was “inexcusable. The whole state was terrified.”
AGAIN FALSE ALARM. What happened today is totally inexcusable. The whole state was terrified. There needs to be tough and quick accountability and a fixed process.
— Brian Schatz (@brianschatz) January 13, 2018
