False alarm for North Korean missile - 38 minutes that terrorize Honolulu

By Jane Han

HONOLULU ― Something unexpected happened yesterday morning during my vacation here in Hawaii.

I was picking up coffee at a Starbucks close to Waikiki a little past 8 a.m. Saturday and ― all of a sudden, breaking the morning peacefulness ― a loud blaring alarm goes off on dozens of cell phones inside the coffee shop.

This isn't your typical alarm sound. It's a built-in mobile alert system that goes off in emergency situations. It is ear-splitting and obnoxious with a distinct tone that triggers an immediate sense of anxiety and urgency.

Everyone, including me, scrambled to find their phones and shut off the sound. But what appeared on the screen was enough to put people on panic mode.

The alert read in all caps: BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.

What in the world. That first few seconds, my mind raced with all kinds of scary thoughts.

Oh God, it's finally happening, I said to myself.

What do I do? Where do I go? Seek shelter? Where? What about my kids? My husband?

Everyone was home while I was out alone to grab coffee.

I looked around and I could tell everyone was lost. I started exchanging a few words of confusion with some people around me, but that didn't help.

We were all clueless.

Forget coffee. The lives of me and my family were at stake. I couldn't waste any more time standing around.

I began rushing back home and, while on my way, noticed that I wasn't the only one. People on the streets were in panic.

Many were on their phones trying to figure out what on earth was going on.

After a 10-minute speed walk down Waikiki, I was reunited with the rest of my family. At least we're all together, I thought.

What next. My husband suggested calling a local authority for evacuation directions, while I scoured the Internet to find more information.

As we got busier scrambling to survive with a North Korean ballistic missile headed our way, another blaring alert went off.

Oh no, we'll all be dead soon. That was the only thing that crossed my mind.

But what showed up on the screen read just the opposite: There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. Repeat. False alarm.

Thank God. We're not going to die. GOOD, but what the heck? That was 38 minutes of sheer terror.

How can anyone mess up something critical as this?

It turns out, it was a mistake made by an employee of Hawaii's Emergency Management Department who "pushed the wrong button" during a routine shift change.

Hard to understand, but it is what it is.

It was the first time I experienced anything remotely close to a life-threatening emergency of this level.

I did some follow-up search online and can't be any more grateful that it was a false alarm.

If it was the real deal, I may have been dead by now. It takes just 15-20 minutes for a North Korean missile to hit the Hawaiian island.