January 13, 2018 - At 8:07am, there was an emergency alert displayed and sounded across radios, cellphones, and cable television.
Emergency Alert
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII.
SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
Waking up to a sounding alarm coming from your phone is definitely not the greatest way to start your weekend. My husband told me to get out of bed and get dressed. Luckily, due to the previous nuclear launching threats from North Korea, Hawaii has somewhat been taking action to prepare for the worst.
For the first time since the Cold War, we sounded our nuclear attack siren in December. Last month, Hawaii sounded their siren following a monthly natural disaster siren test. The nuclear attack warning siren has now become a part of our monthly siren test.
The people of Hawaii have been advised to prepare for such a disaster. However, it seems like households are not taking this threat seriously enough up until now.
My husband ordered me to grab pillows and blankets and throw them in the bathroom to cover ourselves with. While I grabbed water, bananas, and granola bars, he flipped our mattress up against the windows and our boxspring up against the bedroom door to alleviate radiation leaking in. Waiting for him in the bathtub, he dragged in our night stand to lessen the impact of debris falling on us – my heart was racing. I have never been more alert and ready to take on orders. I wanted to panic, but we all know panicking doesn't get you anywhere. I wanted to survive.
From the time we receive a nuclear attack alert to the time we need to be in our shelter-in-place, we have less than 10 minutes. This is why we need to be prepared. This is why we have to take precaution and be proactive.
Emergency Alert
There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. Repeat. False Alarm.
Human error occurred at the Hawaii EMA - Emergency Management Agency.
Their administrator stated, "the warning was a mistake." Hawaii Gov. David Ige also stated, "it was a mistake made during a standard procedure at the change over of a shift, and an employee pushed the wrong button." ("Missle threat alert," 2018)
There are a lot of things to take away from this false alarm. Some people are upset at whoever pressed the wrong button angrily stating, "you had one job!" There are others blaming the POTUS from the tension he's created with the Supreme leader of North Korea. There are also others blaming the new employment standard of "it's not what you know, it's who you know." Instead of pointing fingers and putting blame upon others, we need to take this false alarm as an opportunity to better prepare ourselves in the event of a nuclear attack. My high school basketball coach once told me, "failing to prepare is preparing to fail." We need to have an action plan and learn what we need to do in order to survive a nuclear attack. We must be proactive, not reactive.
@quynnetessential not the best way to wake up on a weekend for sure.. Hopefully things will calm down. Also wanted to let you know that I nominated you take part in the 7 day Black and White Challenge in my last post.
Things have calmed down for sure. Also, that's awesome! Sorry, today is my first day back on this week. I'll be sure to follow up on your post
I know exactly how you felt. When I was young, I lived through the same...
There was a war in my country, sirens woke me up... I had to get up quick as I could, only thing I remember was running down the staircase in a shelter :)
Alertness to the max... I'm not sure how I felt, but for sure I don't like sound of that sirens anymore
stay safe sister, btw I don't have my SP lease now so vote is low :(
war in your country?? Which country are you in? I can’t ever imagine being in that situation.
I hope our president doesn’t have a temper tantrum and press his button first. That’s definitely a war no one wants to see.
And no worries about the voting power. Always nice seeing comments from you :)
Exactly... War in Croatia :) If you heard of Croatia?
Don't worry, I'm pretty sure most of these dangers you hear about nowadays is a part of complex psychological warfare... But I doubt it will escalate
Hey! Sorry for the delay. I actually have heard of Croatia! Not at all familiar with the location and culture, but definitely have heard of it.
And I agree with you. Lots of things do seem to be all talk
I pray to god that the alarm sirens will never start when it's a real alarm..
Good that this was just a false alarm.
All the best for you and your husband!
Thank you!
Stay safe.
Thank you!
wow, this is scary. good that you are well!
Thanks Chris! My anxiety levels reached a new high for sure
this is as serious as raising a real alarm, a false alarm like this could trigger some dispute if not checked in time
Definitely. The administrator mentioned how they're investigating the series of events that led to pressing the wrong button. They want to make sure something like this won't happen again.
yikes
it was absolutely terrifying
Have they provided any clearer instructions to citizens now, on what to do if it occurs again? Tricky when you only have two minutes to decide what to do, without prior thought. Do you go deep into the basement, or out into am empty field, into an underground sewer pipe, etc.
Not really actually. You think they would. They've notified citizens before to have a plan. Best thing to do would be to go down into a basement, but those are pretty rare in Hawaii houses. There were videos are a dad putting his young daughter into a storm drain. What people here don't understand is how to survive nuclear fallout rather than just the blast.
Wow this sounds so intense. I could never imagine such a thing!
Although that is so terrifying I am glad it was a false alarm and everyone in Hawaii is safe! Thank you for sharing
Thanks for reading! It's scary to think that this is reality we're facing now.
Hey Quynne,
can I message you in the Steemit Chat or a alternative way?
I have a little request :)
Hey Jason! I'm not too sure how Steemit Chat works. I just registered a new account, my username is the same as my Steemit account :)
Okay I left you a message there :)