News
Darin Graham
Jan 17, 2018
People working at Hawaii's emergency office are having a tough time right now.
On Saturday, a false missile alert plunged the island into chaos and now a photo of a Post-it with a password in the state's emergency office has resurfaced, raising more concerns.
First shot in July by the Associated Press, the photo shows an operator posing in front of a monitoring station at the Emergency Management Agency headquarters in Honolulu. The sticker on a computer in the background clearly shows a password.
Speaking to Hawaii News Now, spokesman Richard Rapoza confirmed the password was authentic and gave workers access to an “internal application.” He declined to say what application it was but said it is no longer used.
What will happen now?
On the false alert, officials said in a statement it was sent after someone clicked the wrong button in a drop-down menu. The officer responsible has since been re-assigned, Mr Rapoza told the Washington Post.
The agency said it already installed a new safeguard to prevent another debacle like the false alarm on Saturday.
But many Hawaiians continue to ask why it took officials so long, 38 minutes, to send a second alert giving the all-clear.
The state's emergency management chief Vern Miyagi told MSNBC on Sunday that the cancel button only stopped “further issuances of the false alarm.” He added that a new cancellation button was implemented.
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