Washington D.C., January 13: Turns out, it took only one person to push Hawaii's buttons. Governor David Ige revealed that the emergency alert about an incoming "ballistic missile threat", which jolted Hawaiians awake, was a false alarm caused by someone pushing the "wrong button".
"It was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift and an employee pushed the wrong button", Ige told CNN. "The warning went out to cell phones, television and radio got the emergency alert". "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill", the alert read.
While the message caused concerns on social media, the Hawaii Office of Emergency Management responded after 38 minutes on Twitter, saying, "NO missile threat to Hawaii".
S**T Scary Situation
I am in Hawaii. I got the missile alert.
There are no sirens going off. Wife says there should be if it's serious.
We're in a bathtub anyway.
— Ben DuPree (@dupreeben) January 13, 2018
Fair Point Well Made
If you’re fearful of a missile strike after the Hawaii false alarm, take a minute and consider how people in the Middle East must feel on a daily basis.
— jordan (@JordanUhl) January 14, 2018
Quite Surprising
Things Donald Trump tweeted about today:
- “Mentally deranged author”
- Fusion GPS
- Hillary Clinton
- Eric Trump
- The FBI
- The media
- Lou Dobbs
- “Too bad!” (twice)
Things Donald Trump did not tweet about today:
- Hawaii missile crisis
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) January 14, 2018
Ige also issued a statement via Twitter, saying he wanted to "get to the bottom of this so we can prevent an error of this type in the future". "While I am thankful this morning's alert was a false alarm, the public must have confidence in our emergency alert system", he wrote.
The White House issued a statement on the false alarm, noting that United States President Donald Trump had been briefed on the incident. "This was purely a state exercise", the statement added.