Hawaii Governor Couldn't Warn of False Missile Alert Because He Forgot His Twitter Password

Hawaii governor David Ige said he was delayed in notifying the public about a missile alert false [...]

By Libby Birk

Hawaii governor David Ige said he was delayed in notifying the public about a missile alert false alarm earlier this month because he couldn't log into his Twitter account.

"I have to confess that I don't know my Twitter account log-ons and the passwords, so certainly that's one of the changes that I've made," Ige told reporters on Monday, according to the Star Advertiser. "I've been putting that on my phone so that we can access the social media directly."

The governor's communications director, Cindy McMillan, previously told BuzzFeed News that staff members handle his social media accounts. She added that Ige's Twitter and Facebook will continue to be managed by staff aside from emergency situations.

Hawaii state residents were woken up by their mobile phones on Jan. 13 as emergency notifications were blasted saying that a "ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii." The message added that it was "an extreme alert" and "not a drill."

Ige says that he was notified that the missile alert was a false alarm just two minutes after the emergency message was broadcast — but his social media pages were not updated with the information until 17 minutes after the alert.

In addition, follow-up phone messages alerting the public of the mistake weren't sent until 38 minutes after the initial false warning.

"I was in the process of making calls to the leadership team both in Hawaii Emergency Management as well as others," Ige stated, adding. "The focus really was on trying to get as many people informed about the fact that it was a false alert."

Hawaii's roughly 1.5 million residents and their visitors went into sheer panic, many taking to Twitter and Instagram to express their fear.

"It was a false alarm but I spent 40 mins balling my eyes out and praying for my life," wrote one user.

Meanwhile, the Hawaii Emergency Management worker who mistakenly sent out the inaccurate missile warning has been reassigned to a new position. It was not revealed what the unidentified person's new responsibilities will be, but it was made clear that they will not be in a department where they can risk making the same mistake again.

"All we will say is that the individual has been temporarily reassigned within our Emergency Operations Center pending the outcome of our internal investigation, and it is currently in a role that does not provide access to the warning system," HEMS spokesperson Richard Rapoza said.

Hawaii has been on high alert of a nuclear strike in the back and forth jabs traded between North Korea and President Donald Trump.

"At a time of heightened tensions, we need to make sure all information released to the community is accurate," Senator Mazie Hirono, a Democrat, said on Twitter. "We need to get to the bottom of what happened and make sure it never happens again."

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