Missile Monday.

Missile Monday.

Saturday, on the usually peaceful Island of Hawaii, something pretty crazy happened. A person who works at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, “accidentally” chose, from a drop down menu on his computer (For which the options are laughably simple) Missile alert! Instead of, TEST missile alert. Which subsequently sent most of the island in to a panic. Quite understandably.

Around 8:07 am, the alert went out to many people on the island, both residents and tourists received the following message on their phones, “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

As to be expected, when people think they’ve been given minutes, maybe an hour to live. Many people began to panic. This problem was made worse by the fact that it took 38 minutes before a clarification alert was sent out, letting people know that there had been a mistake. And in fact, no missiles were inbound. Hawaii was SAFE....For now...

But....After seeing videos of parents shoving their kids in storm drains. Getting ready for the imminent missile attack, bracing for the unimaginable. A few questions come to mind.

Why exactly was it so easy to send out a false missile alert in the first place? Most apps have an “are you sure you wish to proceed?” button, somewhere, for simply accepting their terms of service. You’d really think they’d have at least something similar for something as important as this.

Also, how close was America to “retaliating” against this “Threat”? It’s clear that most officials, both state and federal agree this was a massive screw up. Obviously, it’s not every day one employee presses the wrong button and sends a whole island in to a panic.... And what if next time this mistake leads to war?

What a weird weekend....Especially for the people of Hawaii!

Here’s a little something I started today, because, WHY NOT! :P

Happy Monday Everyone. Hope your weeks off to a good start!

Sincerely, Bret Frick.