I am surprised he just got reassigned, but there are lessons learned from this:
No one in Hawaii knows what to do when this alert happens. We need more education and perhaps drills. Or to accept that there isn't much point to a warning if there isn't anything folks can do about it.
And well, it takes a lot to make software idiot proof, but really we already knew that.
Nearly a week later, we're all pretty sure that the software is going to be redesigned. Hawaii hasn't really used an attack warning since 1992, after the Cold War was over and we were spending the peace dividend. We just started using it again last November, and the software UI is pretty hard to navigate. The "internal test" option is right next to the "live" option, and they're hard to read, and the operator screwed up the monthly internal test by inadvertently clicking the wrong option on the menu, and then they apparently both have the same subsequent sequence of choices & activations. They also both lacked a way to recall or cancel the warning.
The whole system will also be better connected to the military and police commands. There was no way for those groups to relay the warning and it was very difficult to cancel it. PACOM had to send out flash message traffic (which sends all sorts of the wrong kinds of messages, but at least that got out the word) and the police/firefighters/first responders had to repeatedly broadcast via their dispatchers. 911 would've been overwhelmed.
Presumably the updated missile attack software will be the same as the current tsunami and hurricane warning software... with bigger menu boxes.
The director and the spokesperson both said that the employee feels horrible. The employee has been reassigned. It's not clear whether the director will keep their job-- he's a very popular guy (until this week) and one of the most knowledgeable & experienced civil/military defense execs in the state.
My spouse and I missed the whole thing. I was at a financial meetup in Florida and my spouse was away from her phone. She didn't know anything was happening until neighbors were pounding on the door: "You were in the military-- do you know anything about the attack?!?"
Some of the events precipitated by the warning:
- Over 300 people at a canoe practice/race came sprinting up from the beach into a local fitness center. Families were huddled in the locker rooms and showers saying their farewells.
- A disturbingly large number of drivers screamed up the Pali & Likelike Highways (from both sides) at very high speeds to shelter in the tunnels. The police were very freaked out. We're lucky nobody was seriously injured or killed.
- Many people in Waikiki tried to shelter in retail stores (in concrete buildings) as the stores were trying to lock their doors. (Looting? Liability?) The Waikiki visitor's associations are taking another look at this policy.
- Hotels & resorts carried out their usual "shelter in place" procedures... this time in the basements (hurricanes) instead of the upper floors (tsunami). This was the only part of the incident that could be regarded as "worked as planned".
- At least one of our neighbors unburdened their feelings and may have permanently damaged their domestic harmony. The parent got the missile warning on their phone and tried to call their elderly mother, who didn't really understand what was going on. The upset/frustrated parent then woke up their adult child (living at home) and said "We're all going to die, but if we don't die then you're going to war and you'll be killed. We parents and Grandma will be very unhappy! I told you that you never should have joined the National Guard!!"
I can only imagine who else voiced their thoughts and now feel that they might be better off dead.