For just a moment, imagine waking up in the morning and reading a message on your phone that said,

“BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

If you are like most people, this would cause you to panic. This is what people in Hawaii woke up to on Saturday, January 16th. When people read this message they ran into the streets and panicked.

Some people even went into storm drains in hopes of surviving. For all the panic that happened the people of Hawaii did not know it was an accidental message until thirty-eight minutes later.

According to the New York Times, Hawaii’s governor knew that it was a false alarm two minutes after the message was sent out. Also, it is stated that the false alarm was triggered by human error.

This incident was unacceptable. This should not have ever happened. With ongoing tensions between the United States and North Korea, this could have started a war.

There should be a two-person system to keep from one-person accidentally hitting the wrong button again. The government of Hawaii said they have identified the flaws in the system and are going to fix them. The government of Hawaii and other states should have precautions put in place to keep that message from being sent.