From Funny to Intense: HBA Students and Teachers Responded to Hawaii’s Missile Threat → By Alissa Vasper (‘18) FEATURE
5
A poll that gathered reactions to the January 13 false missile alert revealed that the younger you are, the more likely you were to panic. As the age of surveyed people climbed, the percentage of panicked reactions gradually decreased, resulting in 48% and 44% of juniors and seniors respectively not doing anything about the impending danger— or simply going back to sleep. On the other hand, 73% of teachers took the alarm seriously enough to check online for more information or to prepare for a possible disaster. The emergency alert of a ballistic missile attack inbound to Hawaii was sent out by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, shocking thousands of locals and tourists on Saturday, January 13. It took the agency 38 minutes to notify the public of the false alarm. Within those 38 minutes, the people of Hawaii responded with a wide range of reactions from funny to intense. Here are some of the more unusual stories from HBA’s students and faculty.
CARTOON BY DANIEL JUREK
“I was at a paddling race when the siren and the threat happened. My teammates and I ran from Magic Island to Planet Fitness in Ala Moana and hid in the locker room there. Strangely, I was pretty calm about it, but everyone around me was freaking out.”
“I was at Punahou for a wrestling tournament. When people started to get the notification we were very scared, and then this guy ran in yelling to get out and go to the locker rooms. It was very chaotic because there were thousands of people running.”
Jordan Namba ‘19
Kelcie Ito ‘22
“I walked outside and tried to see the bomb.” Daniel Fujiwara ‘21
“I was too busy trying to get into college to worry about a bomb hitting us.” Mark Zhong ‘18