HAWAII — Shelley Michael and her best friend, Donna Herr experienced the worst day of their lives on Saturday, Jan. 12.
At 8:07 a.m. they received the following message on their respective phones:
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.
The two roommates, who live on the big island in Hawaii, said the local government had been trying to prepare them for such a message.
For years, North Korea announced it was testing nuclear weapons. Recently tensions rose after a “whose button is bigger” controversy stirred between President Donald Trump and and North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
Hawaii is the closest state to North Korea, and some residents fear their state would be a prime target.
The island has added a special siren which runs the first workday of each month. It was designed to be a practice warning for a missile headed to the state. However, CNN reported on Monday that during the drill, an officer in the emergency operation center mistakenly selected an incorrect “template,” which shows what message is going to be sent.
“Total panic,” Michael said, of what ensued Saturday. “When we got these messages on our phones, supposedly they were coming from the Civil Defense.”
Michael woke up her grandchildren. She and Herr began grabbing food, blankets and other survival necessities.
“They kept telling us we had 15 minutes from the time we got the alert until we had to be ready for the blast,” Michael said. “They also told us there was a two-week fallout where we had to be inside because of the radiation.”
They ran around the house closing windows and running bath water to drink in the coming days.
“We were not prepared,” Michael continued. “We put ourselves in the garage. It was scary. The problem was we couldn’t get through to anyone.”
She said communications had jammed as everyone was scrambling to say their goodbyes and warn other Hawaiians.
It was not until Herr reached her son, who served in the military and and had friends still serving, that she learned was no ballistic missile heading toward the island.
“We didn’t know until about 39 minutes before the people of Hawaii knew this was a mistake,” Michael said. “I had to keep calm. My grandchildren are 8- and 10-years-old. The dog was shaking. We were all in panic mode sitting on the floor. It was terrifying. It was scary there were tears. It was emotional.”
Herr managed to get in touch with family to say goodbye.
“It was surreal,” she said.
After about 15 minutes, the two roommates looked at each other, wondering where the sirens were. They went outside, leaving the grandkids in the garage, and looked around.
Later, residents learned the alert was an accident.
“This is a procedure that occurs during change of shift to make sure the system is working, the Hawaiian Governor, David Ige later said. “An employee pushed the wrong button.”
In hindsight, Michale said, the human error showed her household they, and many others, were not prepared for such an event.
“After it was all over, it was kind of comical what we had grabbed. We were very unprepared, as were the majority of people we know.”
But for Michael, the adrenaline rush lasted the rest of the day.
“Nowhere to hide”
Michael said part of the preparation issues is true throughout the whole state: there is nowhere to go in times of crisis.
“There’s no basements, no bunkers,” she said. “Unless you have a bomb shelter because you are a survivalist or something there really are no recourses. Our windows are almost always open. There’s no place to hide. Everything is lava.
“After it was all over, it was kind of comical what we had grabbed. We were very unprepared, as were the majority of people we know.”
Michale said her family has had discussions of what to do for a potential next time. She said each person has a job, which includes shutting windows, filling their two bathtubs, getting food from their provisional storage, and getting propane stove.
The government, Michale said also suggested purchasing heavier, warmer clothing because the fallout from nuclear bombs blot out the sun.
“We’ve also decided our safest place is not the garage. It’s actually the hallway and laundry room where there are no windows,” said Michael.
Still individual preparedness can only go so far.
“I think this has been a wake-up call for many, but also, is it going to do any good?” she asked. “There really is no good place to hide and the radiation — if the fallout — how affected would we be? I don’t know…”
