Nothing like a scare to get your blood moving and your heart stopping. We got this text from our son at 8:15 AM yesterday morning Hawaiian time (12:15 PM Central standard time here in Texas).
As I read this, I froze for a second... then handed it over to DH with a "what???" It was followed almost immediately by this next text of what our son was seeing on his phone on Oahu.
Have to say that I went from confusion to denial in about 60 seconds. First thinking... "what???" then thinking, "no, it can't be real..."
Luckily (such a trivial word)... it wasn't.
For within about 15 minutes, while we searched the TV stations for news, this 3rd text was sent.
Whew! Some mistake! Last we heard from the TV news coverage at the time was that they were trying to determine *how* this happened.
Hard to believe that a mistake like this could be made as easily as they are saying.
And lastly, after watching the news last night and listening to some government official talking about this episode, I heard him say (and I know that I'm paraphrasing here) 'that if a nuclear missile did hit Oahu, people would need to stay in a secure location for about 2 weeks until the radiation level was safe for them to go outside. And that it wouldn't totally destroy the island, there would be survivors'.
This is NOT what I needed to hear. I needed to hear that if a nuclear missile was launched, that we had the capabilities to shoot down that missile before it even reached it's target.
(I also read on a news report that due to the proximity of North Korea to Hawaii, that the people on the island would only have 15 minutes to take shelter...?)
It's now 3:57 am Sunday morning. Sleep eludes me.
I have friends who live there and There are not enough places for people to "hide." I heard about it many hours later and did not go through the terror that all of Hawaii and some of the mainland did. People may survive but probably would have to be evacuated to the other islands. It would be a nightmare and I am so sorry for all the pain you went through and the shell shock you are still enduring. These are the times....
ReplyDeleteMy son said the same thing later when we talked. He said there's no where to go. But since they live close to a hospital, I think they were heading there.
DeleteExtremely scary stuff even for a mistake.
ReplyDeleteDid have our hearts racing for a while...
DeleteThis mistake is inexcusable. It cannot be made by any military, and certainly not be ours.Another brigade of resisters to the polls in November.
ReplyDeleteI agree, Joanne. Certainly there are failsafes... not just one mistaken push of a button.
Deletethat is so scary, I can't imagine the trauma of going through a false alarm; I can remember doing drills in school where we were taught to get under our desks, little did we know that that is only the initial protection perhaps from the blast, as the radiation would kills us, thank goodness we as kids didn't know any better those who discovered nuclear fission and developed the atom bomb are sorry I am sure.
ReplyDeleteIt was very scary, Linda. Just receiving a text from my son that there was a ballistic missile heading for Oahu and that he just wanted to say that he loved us... was enough to think the unthinkable. My heart is still racing... and I wasn't even there. What he said later was similar to what apparently many were saying, there's no where to go (and not much time to get there).
DeleteHow awful that your son and you and your husband, and so many others, suffered through this kind of terror. I saw on TV that people were lifting manhole covers in the street and lowering their small children into the sewers to try and keep them safe.
ReplyDeleteWe are living in nerve wracking times.
Thanks, Susie. Its true that things have been a bit strained these last few years.Just thankful that it was a mistake (but WHAT a mistake).
DeleteI heard about it after it was all over, but it was enough to scare any of us who care about not having a nuclear war, never have another of those awful bombs explode. I have lived my whole life with the threat, and I was horrified as a young girl when I learned that my country actually exploded two of them in Japan to kill and maim so many hundreds of thousands of innocent people. I fervently hope I will live long enough to see the threat eliminated, but I probably won't. :-(
ReplyDeleteIt is awful to think about, DJan.
DeleteBless your heart. It gave me a chill to read the texts and think how you must have felt reading them. It's unbelievable that something like that could happen. So thankful that it was an error.
ReplyDeleteExtremely thankful...
DeleteOh my goodness, this is so awful. I can't imagine how you felt.
ReplyDeleteBriony
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Don't want to ever see a message like that again...
DeleteDear Rian, all we've heard is about a man who worked in the security center and hit the wrong button. I guess he's been relieved of his job and sent elsewhere. This episode really shows me how close it all can be. No wonder sleep "eluded" you. I'm in amazement that you aren't ranting and raving on your blog. I think that's what I'd feel like doing. Peace.
ReplyDeleteI would of freaked out. A friend works at the University of Hawaii and he phoned his mom afterwards and told her, he was coming back to California to live at the end of 2018.
ReplyDeleteCan't blame him.
I imagine there are some that would feel that way. My son and his family haven't voiced any plans as such. But my grandson (19) is coming in a few weeks to spend some time with us. He likes Hawaii, but I don't think he's sure about living there.
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