Ballistic Missile Threat Inbound to Hawaii Emergency Alert

The emergency alert in Hawaii went to every resident with a cellphone who opts in for alerts.

Yesterday started out like any other Saturday in Hawaii, fully not expecting an emergency alert for a ballistic missile threat. This Sacramento Realtor sat on our lanai in my nightgown. Working like usual. Busy answering early morning emails and typing a blog. Then, all of a sudden, shortly after 8 AM my cellphone produced an unfamiliar loud screech. Grabbing it, I spotted the following message:

BALLISTIC MISSLE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

Holy shit. I am not awake. It was all in caps, which made it even scarier. I glanced toward the ocean, studied the fishing vessels and sailboats. Oh, man, I needed more coffee. However, no boats rushed to shore. The street down the hill had very little traffic. I heard no sounds of neighbors opening garage doors or gathering in the streets. My husband was sound asleep in the bedroom, but I saw no reason to wake him.

If a missile was heading this way, we’d all be dead soon enough. There is really no shelter. It would be awful news to wake him with, hey sweetie, we’re about to die. Would you mind waking up. No, I don’t think anybody wants to be awakened like that. It’s best just to let him sleep.

I quickly brought up Twitter on my cell. Frantically searched keywords. Nothing there about an emergency alert in Hawaii for a ballistic missile attack. If this was anybody’s fault, it would be those well meaning but misguided folks who voted for Trump. There is no doubt in my mind that North Korea would bomb us in a heart beat. But I also know that Hawaii’s air sirens are messed up and everybody’s been complaining.

What are the odds it was all a mistake? Pretty high, I figured. I finished my blog. About 20 minutes later, I receive a second alert that the first emergency alert was indeed a mistake. But not before my friend, Hella Rothwell, sent me a text from Oahu. They made everybody leave her building in Honolulu and many hotels in Waikiki closed down. Even Home Depot in Kaila-Kona closed and shuffled everybody out.

Ah, just another day in paradise. But at the end of the day is this: Parents in Hawaii actually stuffed their children into holes in the ground because Trump can’t shut up about his big fat nuclear button.