Imagine sitting at your kitchen table on a Saturday morning enjoying a cup of coffee and reading your emails when an emergency alert flashes on your phone that says;
"Emergency Alert
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"
What would you do?
When I saw this message come across my phone I was startled at fist. But as in all emergency situations, my calm reasoning took over. I got up went in to see if Charlie was awake (he was) and asked if he saw the alert message, he did. I asked "What do we do?". He got up, we went to the living room, turned on the T.V. and saw the emergency alert flashing across the screen. This one telling people to get out of their cars and seek shelter. NOT GOOD.
We both stood in front of the screen and waited for the emergency broadcast station to take over the programming to give us more information and we braced ourselves for the sirens to go off. A few seconds went by nothing happened. The cartoon that was playing on the T.V. continued to entertain us. Humm that was strange. I went to my phone and checked Facebook thinking there might be news there, nothing. One of my friends here on Maui posted asking if anyone else got the alert. I said yes. Then I checked with one of the Maui groups I follow. Everyone there was chiming in, asking questions, no one had answers. Charlie kept looking through the news outlets on his phone for information. Eight minutes goes by then finally Tulsi Gabbard, our senator posted the following statement on Twitter.
"Emergency Alert
BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL!"
What would you do?
When I saw this message come across my phone I was startled at fist. But as in all emergency situations, my calm reasoning took over. I got up went in to see if Charlie was awake (he was) and asked if he saw the alert message, he did. I asked "What do we do?". He got up, we went to the living room, turned on the T.V. and saw the emergency alert flashing across the screen. This one telling people to get out of their cars and seek shelter. NOT GOOD.
We both stood in front of the screen and waited for the emergency broadcast station to take over the programming to give us more information and we braced ourselves for the sirens to go off. A few seconds went by nothing happened. The cartoon that was playing on the T.V. continued to entertain us. Humm that was strange. I went to my phone and checked Facebook thinking there might be news there, nothing. One of my friends here on Maui posted asking if anyone else got the alert. I said yes. Then I checked with one of the Maui groups I follow. Everyone there was chiming in, asking questions, no one had answers. Charlie kept looking through the news outlets on his phone for information. Eight minutes goes by then finally Tulsi Gabbard, our senator posted the following statement on Twitter.
Yep, it took eight minutes to let people know this was a false alarm. It took 38 minutes for the State of Hawaii to issue the false alarm message on our phones and T.V.
After Tulsi Gabbard posted on Twitter I became very upset. Anger and relief swept over me and I did a fair share of swearing. The handling of this false alarm was not acceptable!
I'm very grateful this was indeed a false alarm. Life has pretty much gone back to normal here on Maui. Charlie is back to being super busy with all the demands of Island Printing & Imaging ( his business ) and I'm busy in my studio painting, teaching and helping a young intern learn about the business of being an artist. I'll write more about that in another blog. For now I just want to say how much I appreciate you for your continued support and love.
Thank you.
After Tulsi Gabbard posted on Twitter I became very upset. Anger and relief swept over me and I did a fair share of swearing. The handling of this false alarm was not acceptable!
I'm very grateful this was indeed a false alarm. Life has pretty much gone back to normal here on Maui. Charlie is back to being super busy with all the demands of Island Printing & Imaging ( his business ) and I'm busy in my studio painting, teaching and helping a young intern learn about the business of being an artist. I'll write more about that in another blog. For now I just want to say how much I appreciate you for your continued support and love.
Thank you.
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