Businesses review emergency policies after alert

Hawaii businesses are evaluating policies in the case of a statewide emergency in the aftermath of Saturday’s false missile alert.

The review comes after widespread reports of people being kicked out or not allowed entry into stores such as Walmart, Starbucks, 24-Hour Fitness, Costco and City Mill in the midst of a supposed ballistic missile attack.

“Our policies have always dealt with natural disasters, but we don’t have a policy for an incoming missile,” said Carol Ai May, vice president of City Mill, where an employee at one of its eight stores didn’t allow a customer to enter amid the chaos and confusion.

“I felt really badly. Everything was calm except for that one store,” Ai May said. “The store manager wasn’t there, and one of our associates basically was going to close the whole store down and send everybody home, including all the customers. He didn’t know that it was like an urgent 15-minute thing. Nobody knew what to do.”

On Sunday, City Mill’s management developed a policy that includes ensuring all employees and customers are safe indoors and listening for further information, she said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that in a radiation emergency, people take shelter immediately and close and lock all windows and doors to avoid contamination.

“We will let everybody in who wants to seek shelter,” Ai May said. “However, we’re not going to lock them in. If they want to leave, they can at their own risk.”

Pearl City resident Dean Sensui, a former Honolulu Star-Advertiser photo editor, drove half a mile from his home to Walmart to seek shelter but was turned away.

“It’s not a matter of developing a procedure. It’s just a matter of thinking in a way that helps your fellow human being,” he said. “It’s a matter of humanity. You don’t turn your back on people in a time of need.”

Walmart spokeswoman Delia Garcia said the retail giant is reviewing its emergency response training to ensure workers are “prepared for any similar situations in the future.”

“We can’t imagine the panic, chaos and fear that Hawaii residents, including our associates and customers, experienced during the false emergency alert last week,” she said. “Our store and club associates are trained to respond to a broad range of emergency situations and, despite the unprecedented nature of this alert, their quick response helped many people find immediate shelter inside our buildings. We understand that in the confusion some associates may have misunderstood the direction and evacuated customers rather than sheltering in place. For this we apologize.”

A Starbucks spokesman said employees are instructed to welcome customers in unless property management recommends more secure locations, such as garages or stairwells. Foodland said in a missile threat stores are instructed to keep everyone calm and gather people in a back room or away from windows.

“That willingness to help each other is one of those basic values that are disappearing,” Sensui said. “If you’re at the beach and see somebody drowning, what are you going to do? You don’t just stand there.”