FCC says appears Hawaii had no safeguard to stop missile scare

[webfact]

FCC says appears Hawaii had no safeguard to stop missile scare

By David Shepardson

 

A combination photograph shows screenshots from a cell phone displaying an alert for a ballistic missile launch and the subsequent false alarm message in Hawaii January 13, 2018. REUTERS/Hugh Gentry

 

(Reuters) - Hawaii apparently did not have adequate safeguards in place to prevent a false emergency alert about a missile attack that panicked residents for more than a half-hour before it was withdrawn, a federal official said on Sunday.

 

Speaking after Saturday's errant ballistic missile warning to Hawaii residents, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai said government officials must work to prevent future incidents. The FCC "will focus on what steps need to be taken to prevent a similar incident from happening again," he said.

 

Officials at all government levels need to work together "to identify any vulnerabilities to false alerts and do what’s necessary to fix them."

The alert, sent to mobile phones and broadcast on television and radio shortly after 8 a.m. local time, was issued amid raised tensions over North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and missiles.

 

The message, which was not corrected for 38 minutes, stated: “EMERGENCY ALERT BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL.”

 

"The false emergency alert sent yesterday in Hawaii was absolutely unacceptable," Pai said. "It caused a wave of panic across the state ... Moreover, false alerts undermine public confidence in the alerting system and thus reduce their effectiveness during real emergencies."

 

Corrections should be "issued immediately in the event that a false alert does go out," Pai said. The FCC probe so far suggests Hawaii did not have "reasonable safeguards or process controls in place."

 

The FCC has jurisdiction over the wireless alerts and has proposed technical upgrades to precisely target them to communities. It plans to vote on revisions to the alert system later this month.

 

Hawaii Governor David Ige said on Saturday he was "angry and disappointed" over the incident, apologized for it and said the state would take steps to ensure it never happens again.

 

Ige said the alert was sent during an employee shift change at the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency and that the state had no automated process to get out the word that it was a false alarm. “An employee pushed the wrong button,” Ige said.

 

Senator Brian Schatz, a Hawaii Democrat, spoke to Pai on Saturday and praised him for working "with us on developing best practices on the communications side for states and municipalities to make sure this never happens again. This system failed miserably, and we need to start over."

 

A 2013 government audit found the Federal Emergency Management Agency has improved a federal alerting system known as the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System, "but barriers remain to fully implementing an integrated system."

 

The system can receive and authenticate internet-based alerts from state and local government agencies and disseminate them to the public.

 

Some states were reluctant to fully implement a system and that "decreases the capability for an integrated, interoperable, and nationwide alerting system," the report said.

 

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Detroit; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-01-15

[lopburi3]

The issue was not only that a mistake could easily be made by one person sending alert but there was no easy way to correct as this required approval at federal level.  So there was that totally unacceptable wait until FEMA approved authority to provide a retraction using the same alert channels. 

[mania]

What has upset the people who live in Hawaii is that after the claimed wrong button was pushed

None came forward with any info via radio or TV that let folks know it was false.

 

These guys are all full of it claiming  "no automated process to get out the word that it was a false alarm. “An employee pushed the wrong button,”

 

The radio stations were calling, Citizens were calling, TV stations were calling none got a response via ANY channel

 

As a side note of interest...Know how long a ICBM takes to fly from N Korea to Hawaii? 37 minutes

http://www.businessinsider.com/north-korean-nuclear-strike-united-states-arrival-times-2017-8

 

This "error" was corrected in 38 minutes. If one were cynical they might wonder

[Jack Mountain]

How many have called their boss or the wife to tell them what they think about them? Oops!

[ThaiFelix]

Gives me a lot of confidence!!

[IAMHERE]

Would an alert like this actually save any lives? 

[Srikcir]

8 hours ago, webfact said:

“An employee pushed the wrong button,”

Next time don't place the Missile Alert button next to the Flush button.

[Srikcir]

57 minutes ago, IAMHERE said:

Would an alert like this actually save any lives? 

I'd think so. See http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

Put a 150 Kt airburst over Punchbowl Cemetery anyone in an enclosed concrete room on the first floor or basement should survive the air burst (blue circle) and thermal radiation (orange circle). Epicenter depends on targeting accuracy - maybe detonates in the ocean near the islands or in the mountains.

[thaibeachlovers]

6 hours ago, IAMHERE said:

Would an alert like this actually save any lives? 

It will if bathtubs are protection from a nuclear strike.

[Katia]

On 1/15/2018 at 2:52 PM, Srikcir said:

I'd think so. See http://nuclearsecrecy.com/nukemap/

Put a 150 Kt airburst over Punchbowl Cemetery anyone in an enclosed concrete room on the first floor or basement should survive the air burst (blue circle) and thermal radiation (orange circle). Epicenter depends on targeting accuracy - maybe detonates in the ocean near the islands or in the mountains.

 

But will they know exactly where it's going?  Even if so, will thousands of panicked people jumping into their cars or onto public transport to try to get out of the area be able to get far, in whatever time they have (someone above said 37 minutes) before traffic jams up completely, some of them are done in by car accidents and fights over spots on cars/in buses and trains, etc.?