Cable Forum - Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

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Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42677604

Quote:

An incoming missile alert plunged residents of Hawaii into panic on Saturday morning before it was declared to be false.

http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/at...0&d=1515881445

Mobile phone users received a message saying: "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill."

State Governor David Ige apologised to Hawaiians, saying an employee had pressed the wrong button.

The US government announced there would be a full investigation.

An alert system is in place because of the potential proximity of Hawaii to North Korean missiles.

I can’t begin to imagine how people felt during those forty minutes (and I lived in West Berlin during the height of the Cold War).

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

Appears to be some confusion.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administ...state-exercise

Quote:

The White House said Saturday that President Trump was briefed on the false emergency alert that went out in Hawaii warning of an incoming ballistic missile threat.

"The President has been briefed on the state of Hawaii's emergency management exercise. This was purely a state exercise," White House deputy press secretary Lindsay Walters said in a statement.

http://wgntv.com/2018/01/13/hawaii-o...bound-missile/

Quote:

An emergency alert notification sent out on Saturday claiming a “ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii” was a false alarm caused by an employee pressing the “wrong button” during a shift change, according to Hawaii Gov. David Ige.

“BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL,” the initial emergency alert read.

While the message caused concern on social media, the Hawaii Office of Emergency Management quickly responded on Twitter, saying, “NO missile threat to Hawaii.”

“It was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift and an employee pushed the wrong button,” Gov. David Ige told CNN.

A second emergency alert was sent to phones in Hawaii 38 minutes after the initial message confirming the false alarm.

This was posted on FB

Quote:

Not one I need to do again. Taking care of 3 yo grandson while his mom and dad and big brother are on the other side of the island attending a school tour. As my wife said to our daughter in Connecticut - “we are too busy getting water and food and finding the safest place in the house - can you check other sources to see what is really happening?” Daughter found tweet from Tulsi, confirming no attack, let us know, then melted into tears for the next hour, until she was feeling well enough to fill up a glass with tequila. I am skipping my bike ride and just sticking close to family here. Hell of a day.

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 35932430)

Appears to be some confusion.

http://thehill.com/homenews/administ...state-exercise

http://wgntv.com/2018/01/13/hawaii-o...bound-missile/

Appreciate mistakes happen but that was a real arse twitching mistake, can't get my head around how you would react to that message?

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

Somebody's on the naughty step Monday morning !

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr Banana (Post 35932431)

Appreciate mistakes happen but that was a real arse twitching mistake, can't get my head around how you would react to that message?

Put your head between your legs and kiss your ass goodbye. :D

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

Sounds like fake nukes to me ;)

---------- Post added at 09:35 ---------- Previous post was at 09:12 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 35932429)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42677604 I can’t begin to imagine how people felt during those forty minutes (and I lived in West Berlin during the height of the Cold War).

You could hide under your desk though .

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

Quote:

Originally Posted by papa smurf (Post 35932452)

Sounds like fake nukes to me ;)

---------- Post added at 09:35 ---------- Previous post was at 09:12 ----------

You could hide under your desk though .

Actually, I was based at the highest point in Berlin (Teufelsberg, in the Grunewald), but thanks for your suggestion.

Update - someone else has posted this on Twitter. http://www.cableforum.co.uk/board/at...1&d=1515923110

Another one

Quote:

Got this notification. Ran to find bomb shelter but were told it was bolted shut. Sat in the hallway of a concrete building w/ 50-some military spouses & children, many of whom were in tears & hyperventilating expecting to die. Took @Hawaii_EMA 38 min. to correct their mistake.

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

Quote:

Originally Posted by papa smurf (Post 35932452)

You could hide under your desk though .

You also need to put a paper bag over your head to have full protection.

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

Brought back memories of ‘Exercise Rocking Horse’ in West Berlin - that was simulating war breaking out.

Only challenge we had was that the Russians were closer to the armoury than we were in Married Quarters (with a wire fence at the edge of the Gatow airfield the only barrier in the way) - our life expectancy was less than an hour.

It was quite common to hear of West Berliners committing suicide when the Exercises were held, as they thought the Soviets were coming back, and they remembered their previous incursions.

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

Rather a false alert than no alert at all. Although there are some that would rather disappear in a flash rather than have a few minutes to worry.

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taf (Post 35932474)

Rather a false alert than no alert at all. Although there are some that would rather disappear in a flash rather than have a few minutes to worry.

I believe the annoyance is not with the false alert (because ordure happens) but the fact it took 38 minutes for people to be informed it was a false alert.

I don’t believe anyone would rather be vapourised than have a false alert - I lived near Greenham Common in 84-85, and we were woken up by the attack alarm (rather than the practice alert alarm) went off at around 3am one morning - we wouldn’t have had to worry about the fallout, we would have been the fallout; we were very relieved when the all-clear siren went off very soon after.

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 35932467)

One of the things I never knew until quite late about the Cold War was that West Berlin was surrounded by Soviets. Must have been a weird existence to be in this weird little pocket of freedom. Presumably in the outbreak of war West Berlin would fall pretty quickly, that's a stressful way to live.

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

It was...

On the other hand, the evacuation plan was that in the event of a potential conflict, we (Sigint trade) would be the first ones shipped back to the U.K. as we could continue doing our job there - luckily, our job was to know if we were going to be attacked, which was fortuitous...

Re: Hawaii alert: False missile alarm sparks panic

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh (Post 35935553)

"Well, we're off. Nothing to see here. Carry on"

:tiptoe::Sprint: