Stories related to the Jan. 13, 2018, false alert warning Hawaii of an incoming missile.
Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says the agency will be working with states to follow proper protocols when issuing safety alerts and can quickly retract incorrect alerts like Hawaii’s warning of a ballistic missile over the weekend. Read more
North Korea’s state-run media said President Donald Trump’s tweet about having a bigger nuclear button than leader Kim Jong Un’s is the “spasm of a lunatic” and mocked Hawaii’s false-alarm missile scare Saturday. Read more
NHK television issued the message on its internet and mobile news sites as well as on Twitter, saying North Korea appeared to have fired a missile at Japan. Read more
Hawaii leaders are taking heat from the highest level for the colossal blunder that resulted in 38 minutes of terror for residents, who thought that a missile was headed for the islands. Read more
The state “warning officer” at the center of Saturday’s bogus alert is a 10-year veteran and nonunion, exempt employee who has received “dozens of death threats by fax, telephone, social media.” Read more
House Speaker Scott Saiki is tearing up and rewriting portions of his opening-day speech at the state Legislature to urge his colleagues to focus more attention on public safety and disaster preparedness in the wake of Saturday’s missile scare. Read more
For parents across the isles, the false missile alert Saturday morning was a time of panic as well as a time to figure out how to keep their children safe and reassured in the following week to come. It was also a wake-up call. Read more
Gov. David Ige said Monday night that even he had trouble making phone calls in the minutes after Saturday’s alert that was sent out statewide, mistakenly warning about a ballistic missile attack. Read more
A groundbreaking missile defense test is expected soon on Kauai that has ramifications for the defense of Hawaii from North Korean ballistic missiles. Read more
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Sean Shields suffered a massive heart attack minutes after saying his last goodbyes over the phone to his 10-year-old daughter and grown son following the false missile alert. Read more
Many local residents and visitors received no missile attack alert on their cellphones revealing another problem with Hawaii’s emergency notification system. Read more
Gov. David Ige apologized to the state again today during a televised address about the false missile scare on Saturday and promised it will never happen again. Read more
He’s one of 10 warning officers entrusted with alerting island residents and visitors of both natural and man-made threats against Hawaii. Read more
When Jonathan Scheuer got an alert on his phone of a ballistic missile headed for Hawaii, he and his family didn’t know what to do. They went to their guest bedroom, then decided it would be safer on the ground floor of their Honolulu home. Read more
Unbelievable. Un-freaking- believable. Two mornings ago, Hawaii residents and visitors woke to a postcard-perfect day, and to this emergency text alert: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.” Read more
The Army this summer will test a capability it first prepared for in Hawaii more than 100 years ago: the ability to sink a ship at sea from the shore. Read more
President Donald Trump praised Hawaii officials for taking responsibility for Saturday morning’s panic-inducing alert that mistakenly warned of an incoming ballistic missile. Read more
The false alarm about an incoming ballistic missile that sent Hawaii into a panic this weekend threatened to turn into a major embarrassment for the state and its politically endangered governor, David Y. Ige, as Hawaii officials moved to head off damage to Hawaii’s biggest industry, tourism. Read more
The chairman of the Federal Communication Commission said today Hawaii did not have “reasonable safeguards in place” to prevent Saturday’s false alert of an imminent missile attack. Read more
Is the state’s nuclear preparedness campaign worth the fear relative to the chances of attack? Read more
Somebody ought to be fired, and if it’s not the person who actually sent out the doomsday text, then it’s those along the chain of command who think saying, “Sorry, it won’t happen again” will suffice. Read more
