A Virden couple vacationing in Hawaii got a bad scare last Saturday along with everyone else in the state when an alert warned of an incoming ballistic missile.
Kim and Tim Howell of Virden along with Kim's sister and brother-in-law Jo-Anne and Bob Stephenson from Killarney, MB were just having their morning coffee at the Howell's condo on the Big Island at around 8:10 a.m.
"The alert came to all of our cell phones," said Kim Howell in an online interview.
"My sister was upstairs with her phone when her alert came, and so I could just barely hear it on the lower level. I called to Jo-Anne, 'Is there a warning or something?' I just wasn't expecting her reply: 'YES! There's a ballistic missile heading here!'”
Howell says they took the warning seriously at first.
Seek shelter
"We closed the windows, talked about the best spot in the condo to retreat to, turned the TV and Internet on looking for information.
“Eventually local TV stations had the 'seek shelter' warning running across the bottom of the screen."
Howell says the four of them remained calm. "I'd say we were all in the shock and disbelief stage. We thought about phoning the kids (at home) but thought it would only worry them. All we could do was stay where we were and wait."
When the all-clear notification came 38 minutes after the warning alert, the foursome made their regular Saturday morning visit to a farmers market. One of the vendors said everyone at the market, about 70 shoppers, ran to their cars at the same time after received the alert on their cell phones.
Not the first scare
This isn't the first time the Howells have experienced a scare in Hawaii. Their cell phones have gone off in the past with warnings about flash floods. They even went through a small earthquake last year.
"But this was scarier because all we could do was seek shelter. You felt rather helpless."
Helpless maybe, but not terrified. "While waiting for the missile, I poured a coffee and fed the birds as usual and continued to search online for more info," said Kim.
There’s another reason they didn’t go into full blown panic mode – there was no siren. “They test the sirens every month for tsunami warnings or any warning, they are very loud. So we thought it strange the sirens weren't going and we thought, or hoped, this was a false alarm.”
So does this incident change how the Howells feel about Hawaii?
"We don't feel any different. Hawaii has been preparing for a missile attack (from North Korea) but even so, it was a surprise to get the alert that one was on the way!
“Maybe there will be an explanation why it took 38 minutes to get the 'false alarm' alert."
The Howells still have two more weeks left in Hawaii and say they plan to return to the island for future holidays despite the scare.
