Hawaii hits panic mode over false ballistic missile alert

TIL Desk/World/Hawaii/ A ballistic missile warning system alert in Hawaii went off erroneously on Saturday, creating panic among the islanders, even as the officials dubbed it a “false alarm”. At around 8.07 am local Hawaii time, an emergency alert was sent to all cell phones in caps. “Ballistic missile threat inbounds to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.”

About 10 minutes later, Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted that there was no such threat. “No missile threat to Hawaii,” it said. The second emergency alert went out at 8:45 am.”There is no missile threat or danger to the state of Hawaii. Repeat. False Alarm,” it said.

The US Pacific Command in a separate statement said it detected no ballistic missile threat to Hawaii. “Earlier message was sent in error,” it said. White House Deputy Press Secretary Lindsay Walters said President Donald Trump has been briefed on the state of Hawaii’s emergency management exercise. “It was purely a state exercise,” she said.

Democratic Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard said the people of Hawaii “just got a sense of the stark reality of what a nuclear strike on Hawaii would be”. Cell phones all across Hawaii got a message saying a ballistic missile is incoming, take shelter, she added.