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Hawaii missile scare causes fear, criticism of emergency alert system

A false missile alert issued in Hawaii Jan. 13 sent millions of tourists and residents—including an Oklahoma Christian University professor and alumna—into a state of panic.

The errant message was distributed to cell phones, radio and television networks at 8:07 a.m. local time, prompting immediate reaction across the eight islands. Local emergency personnel sent a follow-up message redacting the original alert 38 minutes later.

Missionary in Residence and University Lecturer Nancy Hartman was in Hawaii when the false alarm was sent out, eating breakfast in a hotel restaurant with her 80-year-old aunt. She said she immediately tried calling her daughter and son-in-law—Oklahoma Christian alumni who live in Hawaii and are affiliated with the military—after seeing the notification.

“I was shaking so hard I had a difficult time dialing,” Hartman said. “They didn’t answer at first, but the second time they did, and my daughter said, ‘We got the same message. We don’t know what to do. Goodbye.’”

According to Hartman, her daughter’s family hunkered down in a closet wearing bicycle helmets. Hartman said she remained in the hotel dining area with her aunt until the all-clear was given.

“Our server said there was no shelter or safe place for us to go,” Hartman said. “We were on the sixth floor of the hotel, so I thought if something hits, we are either going to be completely gone or we are going to be under concrete.”

In the minutes following the issuance of the alert, widespread chaos spread throughout Hawaii. Paramedics responded to an above average number of car crashes and heart attacks. Motorists abandoned their cars on the side of the highway and ran in search of shelter. One video showed a man lowering a small child into an underground manhole.

Hawaii Gov. David Ige was informed the alert was false within two minutes, but took 15 minutes to announce the news publicly via Twitter. In a press conference two days after the scare, Ige said the state’s leaders had recognized their error and would work to improve the emergency alert system.

“We are looking at this as an opportunity to learn a lesson and identify what additional actions are required to better prepare our community,” Ige said.

Officials with the Hawaii Emergency Operations Center announced the employee who sent out the errant alert would be temporarily reassigned to a new position pending the outcome of an internal investigation. Hartman said she approved of the department’s initial response, but added blame should not fall solely on a single employee.

“In my mind, he’s not the only one who made a mistake,” Hartman said. “Why wasn’t there someone to approve the alert? It seems to me there is a whole group of people at fault.”

According to NewsOK, officials with the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management (ODEM) use the same type of emergency alert system as Hawaii. Alerts are broadcast automatically through television and radio airwaves and appear immediately as notifications on mobile devices. ODEM tests their emergency notification system monthly.

Shortly after news of the missile scare in Hawaii spread worldwide, Gov. Mary Fallin issued a statement saying a similar event would never happen in Oklahoma.

“The safeguards used by the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management ensure when a warning message is issued, Oklahomans should indeed begin to take precautions and it is not a false alarm,” Fallin said.

Hartman said one long-term consequence of the false alarm might be people dismissing a future missile alert as simply an error.

“The sad thing now is, if it really did happen, people would probably do nothing,” Hartman said.

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