That Sinking Feeling I Had

[Walena]

Saturday morning when I got an alert on my phone. According to the Emergency Mgmt. Agency, we are under missile attack. Meaning a missile was launched and there was a failure to intercept.

Instructions are to seek shelter immediately because there's about 12-15 minutes before impact. There used to be a few fallout shelters back in the missile crisis days, but they aren't in use as far as I know.

I checked the TV and radio and nothing. No sirens, but they test every month and a bunch always malfunction. Where I live, there is nothing that can withstand a nuclear blast.

So I sat with my little dog, and gave him the biggest breakfast he ever had and I waited. I was ok with this thinking that this is going to be quick if I was sitting at ground zero.

Nothing until a message 38 minutes later saying that it's a false alarm. A worker clicked on the wrong button.

Later I looked online at the news and saw the panic. Cell service was overloaded with people calling loved ones telling them that they were going to die. 911 was flooded with calls. Facebook was swamped with people asking what to do. If this was a real missile attack, they were going to die holding their phones. This scenario happens all the time when there's an emergency here. We've had hurricanes, tsunamis and lava flows and the same thing happens.

This post was to show the reality of what could one day happen. And how simple preparations can help. It was a good wakeup call though

Oh and please refrain from making any political comments.

 

[Onomea]

I think this sort of mistake is outrageous. I believe an announcement that a nuclear attack is underway should be left to the federal authorities and the military. I question the states (any states) competence for this task.

It is amazing that no one was killed in the panic.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Thanks for the "First Person" perspective on pending annihilation. That must have been horrific for so many there. Took me back to the old days at school and the "duck and cover" drills.

Made me long for the ever-present bunkers available to me when I lived in Switzerland.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0gpYYpZpzU[/ame]

 

[Joe Kent]

Perhaps good can yet come out of this if people wake up and work out some planning and preparation and not just bend over and kiss your goodbye.

 

[saemetric]

Glad to hear the gument employee who did this has a new job with no penalty.

 

[diegobxr]

I cannot believe such an outrageous "mistake" can actually happen, especially in the USA. What's the penalty for whoever was responsible of this? What if someone panicked so much as to commit suicide, or any other drastic measure?

(I'm googling on this news now 'cause I can't believe them). I'm sorry for what you had to go through, OP. Thanks for sharing.

 

[misswired]

WELL???1\15/18

 

[Stevens]

The false alarm was terrible in itself but then seems it took about 30 minutes to let people know it was a false alarm and there was no danger.
Steve W

 

[Old TexMex]

Sort of brings things into perspective, doesn't it.....

 

[Bill Raby]

I think this sort of mistake is outrageous. I believe an announcement that a nuclear attack is underway should be left to the federal authorities and the military. I question the states (any states) competence for this task.

It is amazing that no one was killed in the panic.

What makes you think that the feds are any more competent than the state or local guys?

 

[carpriver]

I grew up in the 1950's,I remember the duck and tuck drills in grade school and high school. Our town , Charlotte Michigan was a test city for some kind of early warning system in the event of nuclear missile launch. We plugged a device into an electric outlet. When the test day came people were to inflate a red balloon and let it go if there device received the signal make a load noise. our device did not go off. Never learned if the program was successful or not, I don't remember if there were a lot red balloons is the air that day. My mom would not let my brother and me play with the balloon and little gas cylinder as it was marked US Government Property. My days in the Air Force were mostly in SAC, the keepers of the nation nuclear weapons, we practiced daily for the real thing. with all the weapons if they all launched and made to to their targets there were not going to be anyone left to carry on. The earths atmosphere would be filled with radioactive dust that would blot out the sun; the soil would be unable to grow anything all wild life and human if not dead from the blasts would die from the radioactivity related illnesses.

 

[Iggy]

I grew up in the crawl under your desk and cover your head era too.

We had 3 minuteman Missiles on the ranch and a 20 missile launch control center a mile and a half from the house.. We always figured we would know we were in trouble when we saw the flash.

 

[Cardboard_killer]

Glad to hear the gument employee who did this has a new job with no penalty.

Yeah, any system that allows an employee just to push the wrong button and create havoc is a real bomb waiting to go off. The problem is the system.

 

[Walena]

Yes it does bring a lot in to perspective. If you do survive a blast, you can't go outside for who knows how long. If you do, and are exposed to radiation, chances are a slow and painful death.

So, I sat with my dog because I didn't want him to be without me and I didn't want to be without him. The plan was that we'd go together.

Luckily I didn't have to find out.

 

[ameridaddy]

Gotta wonder about the console for that. I find it incredulous that it sounds like there was a multiple choice option for the watchstander, something like the station presets on a AM/FM radio. Where was the protocol, corroboration of a second watchstander, a lockout, code or key controlled procedure by the book for something so serious?
What was the game - something like the arsonists who set fires and then call them in to seem to be heroes? Some minor functionary with an ax to grind or trying to prove himself?
Or perhaps to call attention to a woeful lack of security in the area, or a purposely generated incident to garner more funds for the system?
I dunno. The incident and the official response (reassign the incompetent or malicious employee?) sounds very, very fishy to me.

 

[billwill]

Where I grew up, if you drew a 100 mile circle you'd pickup Norfolk (Navy) Jacksonville (Marines) Fayetteville (Army) and Goldsboro (Air Force) installations, so we never really gave a hoot to the drills. Too many incoming to this area, I'd be vapor in 10 seconds.

The false warning in Hawaii in this age and time, is really serious. And like others have said something needs to be done to place an additional level of 'brains' in that reporting chain of command. If anything would happen (God forbid) the archeologists would have a hard time figuring out why everybody had melted plastic in their hands. Maybe a phone app will let you see it coming ...Geez..I'd be trying get in one more prayer! Sorry the OP had to endure that.

 

[wundudnee]

Everybody just needs their own fall out shelter.

 

[Old TexMex]

At least y'all don't have the flu epidemic.
Truth be known, if it were a real attack, what, exactly, were Hawaiians supposed to do?

Make one last amend, I rekon....

 

[Walena]

At least y'all don't have the flu epidemic.
Truth be known, if it were a real attack, what, exactly, were Hawaiians supposed to do?

Make one last amend, I rekon....

I saw a post online of a woman saying " I'm gonna bend over and kiss my *** goodbye, and hope that they nuke the S** that killed me".

10-15 minutes is enough time to get in the house and secure it. Your checklist should have been gone over months ago. According to the EMA Director, "that's all we can do".

 

[JayFramer]

I bet there will be a wave of "false alarm missile babies" in Hawaii in about 9 months.