Ottawa residents in Hawaii who received emergency alerts on their cellphones warning of an impending missile strike that turned out to be a false alarm say they were shaken and frightened.
I felt like I needed to face my mortality, like I was looking at the prospect of my own death,” says Ottawa native Heidi Boulanger.
Boulanger has been working in Hawaii for three years. She got the alert on her cellphone while she was at work around 8 a.m. local time. She says “We were told that the missiles were going to hit in fifteen minutes, so it was like we were waiting.”
The alert, which was sent just before 8:10 a.m., said: “BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”
Boulanger found shelter in her office. “What was challenging for me is that I was by myself. That I wasn’t near my boyfriend and his two beautiful children.”
Many Canadians are working or living in Hawaii.
Adam Salumi is vacationing in Maui for two weeks with his girlfriend. They got the news from hotel staff at breakfast.
He says, “He was saying he received an alert on his phone saying a ballistic missile is on route to Hawaii and to seek shelter and this is not a drill.”
He says he wanted to see the alert for himself. “He read it off to me and it looked pretty official like a direct alert from a phone.”
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency tweeted there was no threat about 10 minutes after the initial alert, but that didn't reach people who aren't on the social media platform. A revised alert informing of the "false alarm" didn't reach cellphones until about 40 minutes later.
Adam Salumi says he was relieved “That’s not something you don’t want to be here when something like this happens. That would be insane. For sure. I am not looking to be in any war.”
Meanwhile, Boulanger says this does not change her outlook on her life in Hawaii and is thankful no one was hurt. “I feel like can’t chose fear,” she says.
A full inquiry is underway. Investigators have already found Hawaii doesn't have “reasonable safeguards - to prevent another false alert.”