Hawaii Ballistic Missile Threat Warning 13 Jan 18 - Big Mistake

[Rifleman62]

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hawaii-ballistic-missile-threat-alert-false-alarm-live-updates/

Hawaii emergency officials say alert of ballistic missile threat was mistake - Last Updated Jan 13, 2018 1:52 PM EST

HONOLULU -- Hawaii emergency management officials say a push alert that warned of an incoming ballistic missile to Hawaii on Saturday was a mistake. The emergency alert sent to cellphones said in all caps, "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill."

Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesman Richard Repoza said it's a false alarm and that the agency is trying to determine what happened.

"State Warning Point has issued a Missile Alert in ERROR! There is NO threat to the State of Hawaii!" the City and County of Honolulu said in a statement Saturday.

NO missile threat to Hawaii.

— Hawaii EMA (@Hawaii_EMA) January 13, 2018

Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard tweeted the alert and said she confirmed with officials that there was no incoming missile.

HAWAII - THIS IS A FALSE ALARM. THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE TO HAWAII. I HAVE CONFIRMED WITH OFFICIALS THERE IS NO INCOMING MISSILE. pic.twitter.com/DxfTXIDOQs

— Tulsi Gabbard (@TulsiGabbard) January 13, 2018
The alert stirred panic for residents on the island and across social media.
.
This is a developing story and will be updated.

Apparently the warning went on for 35 minutes before it was announced it was a mistake. Scary. to the families.

 

[MarkOttawa]

Tweet by Matthew Fisher of Postmedia:

Matthew Fisher‏ @mfisheroverseas

Received a "ballistic missile inbound. this not a drill" warning on my phone here at Honolulu airport. So did everyone else here & at Hickham air base/Pearl Harbor naval base next door. 9 minutes later everyonetold that it was false alarm.  1st time i've had such a warning!
1:32 PM - 13 Jan 2018
https://twitter.com/mfisheroverseas/status/952247018235162624

Thank goodness most people today do not remember this December 7, 1941, US Navy message:

https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/american_originals/fdr.html

Today's false alarm is a real wake-up call and very many systems had better be looked at very, very closely (and made as secure against hacking as possible).

Mark
Ottawa

 

[ModlrMike]

On the bright side, they get to see how people react when it's not a drill... without it being the real thing.

It would be interesting to read the lessons learned from an Emergency Measures perspective.

 

[Old Sweat]

This is very odd. Warning of a missile launched and inbound should come from a national source.

During Gulf 1 the NDOC would get warning of a launch, followed within a very short period of time by a report of area of launch and predicted impact. We had a system operating that allowed us to pass this to our HQ in the Gulf almost instantly. And the HQ would pass it on faster than I can type this.

 

[Quirky]

Had to end sometime. The traffic on Oahu is unbearable.

 

[mariomike]

Today's false alarm is a real wake-up call < snip >

The first false alarm I recall came during a Partridge Family song,
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yu4r79l8P8I

"After 40 minutes and six incorrect cancellation messages, the accidental activation was terminated."

Love the creepy piano music they return to after "the accidental activation was terminated". 

1971: "The operator, W. S. Eberhardt, who has worked 15 years at the center, said afterward: "I can't imagine how the hell I did it."

2018: "Someone pushed the wrong button."

 

[brihard]

I know I’m not the first to say this, but I’m glad Trump was golfing.

 

[SeaKingTacco]

I know I’m not the first to say this, but I’m glad Trump was golfing.

Why? I thought this was Hawaiian State Government mistake, not a NORAD/PACOM mistake.

 

[Old Sweat]

Why? I thought this was Hawaiian State Government mistake, not a NORAD/PACOM mistake.

I'm with you on this. National assets would have determined this was a false alarm and that no response was required.

 

[Halifax Tar]

Isn't it amazing how Trump comes up in everything.  I am so tired of hearing his name.

 

[Blackadder1916]

Why? I thought this was Hawaiian State Government mistake, not a NORAD/PACOM mistake.

Yes, but doesn't the US President get most of his intelligence from social media? [/sarcasm]  And likewise makes most of his pronouncements via same.


https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/13/us/hawaii-missile.html

. . .

Officials cancelled the alert, sent out by Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, nearly 40 minutes after it was issued in a scramble of confusion over why it was released — and why it took so long to rescind. Outrage was immediately expressed by state officials and among people who live in what is normally a famously tranquil part of the Pacific, as well as tourists swept up in the panic.

“The public must have confidence in our emergency alert system,” the governor, David Y. Ige, said. “I am working to get to the bottom of this so we can prevent an error of this type in the future.”

Officials said the alert was the result of human error and not the work of hackers or a foreign government. The mistake occurred during a shift-change drill that takes place three times a day at the emergency command post, according to Richard Rapoza, a spokesman for the agency. He said a new procedure was put in place hours after the mistake requiring two-step authentication before any such alert is sent out.

. . .

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency has been holding “are you ready” drills. As a chain of islands, Hawaii is subject to all kinds of threats — hurricanes, volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis — but officials have made clear that none is more urgent now than the threat of an attack by North Korea, given how little time there would be between an alert and the detonation of a bomb.

The fifth page of an emergency preparation pamplet issued by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency features a picture of a rocket lifting off. “Nuclear Threat — Unlikely But Cannot Ignore It.”

https://dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/files/2017/09/20170921-Preparedness-brief-SEPT-2017.pdf

 

[Jarnhamar]

Trump probably told everyone to calm down and not worry since North Korea is opening talks with the South and seem like maybe they're finally getting it.

But like I alluded to in the politics thread nothing combats complacency like a life threatening scare.  I've seen a number of posts from people who allegedly  had family in Hawaii calling them screaming and crying.

 

[Bird_Gunner45]

I'm with you on this. National assets would have determined this was a false alarm and that no response was required.

Agree. There are enough radar and detection systems to make the authorities aware there was no missile. Trump doesn't factor in.

 

[Pieman]

Had to end sometime. The traffic on Oahu is unbearable.

Oh man! That's no joke!

I happen to be in the area and got to watch the action unfold. The message went out to anyone with a smart phone in Hawaii. They took over 30 minutes to send out a message saying false alarm.

There were two kinds of reactions I'm seeing, mostly via after action comments on social media. Those who panicked and those who waited for some kind of secondary confirmation.  A couple people noted that planes were still landing at the airport, so that would seem odd if a nuke strike was incoming. People staying in hotels likely had a big fright as a lot of the hotels immediately told everyone to stay in their rooms or seek shelter. Some didn't even buy into that and checked twitter and stayed in bed. People going out shopping dashed into stores before they officially open. Apparently Costco was flooded...which would be a pretty good place to hunker down actually.

Overall, a lot of pissed off people in Hawaii today, ha!

For myself, I did not notice the alert on my phone for 25 minutes after it went out. So, I was like, slow missile? I then noted the air strike sirens were not going off, which they test once a month here. So, I checked twitter and found it was a fake alarm. I feel like I kind of missed out on the fun.

 

[Rifleman62]

Anyway less than twenty (13 - 15) minutes from launch to bang.

Imagine waking up in the morning with your phone buzzing with a text msg which says ......

 

[Inspir]

This is very odd. Warning of a missile launched and inbound should come from a national source.

When I worked in Alberta I had a position that gave me access to the Emergency Public Warning System. I do not recall any similar federal system as I believe each province had their own.

I could literally call a phone number, enter my pin, choose which kind of Emergency it is (weather, disaster, civil, etc), give a voice recording, hit # and it would automatically broadcast. In the event of a national emergency I imagine each province would be contacted to activate their systems.

 

[Jarnhamar]

Agree. There are enough radar and detection systems to make the authorities aware there was no missile. Trump doesn't factor in.

Trump always factors in  ;D

Sorry HT!

 

[brihard]

I'm being flippant on my Trump remark of course- it's a given that there would be confirmation at a national military level on anything going real. I jsut find this to be a painful reminder of just who the national command authority is, and who we're counting on for sober, considered, deliberate action in the event something escalates for real. Once can hardly mention nuclear weapons in this day and age and not immediately think of Trump and Kim Jong Un. Nuclear conflict feels more 'real' today than it has at any point in my life. Granted, to those of you who were of age during the cold war this is old hat...

 

[SeaKingTacco]

I'm being flippant on my Trump remark of course- it's a given that there would be confirmation at a national military level on anything going real. I jsut find this to be a painful reminder of just who the national command authority is, and who we're counting on for sober, considered, deliberate action in the event something escalates for real. Once can hardly mention nuclear weapons in this day and age and not immediately think of Trump and Kim Jong Un. Nuclear conflict feels more 'real' today than it has at any point in my life. Granted, to those of you who were of age during the cold war this is old hat...

This is old hat. I lived the Cold War days as a kid (70s-80s). While a nuclear weapon detonating is no joke, we are currently talking single digit numbers in play between the US and NK- hardly "the end of humanity" stuff. I remember when thousands of weapons were in play. There was no point, IMHO, hunkering down in a shelter to delay dying by a week of two at most. Better to go out at minute one on ground zero, IMHO.

 

[Old Sweat]

I was a 22-year-old second lieutenant during the Cuban Missile Crisis and I was pretty sure I was going to die. To make things worse, I was on a course at the RCSA in Shilo and my troops were in 1 RCHA in Gagetown, and if I had to die, I wanted to die with them.