![Traffic on a road in Hawaii. [Image credit: Anthony Quintano, Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/1/14/660x290/b_502x220x82/traffic-on-a-road-in-hawaii-image-credit-anthony-quintano-wikimedia-commons_1776713.jpg "Traffic on a road in Hawaii. [Image credit: Anthony Quintano, Wikimedia Commons]")
The unrest in the Korean peninsula, coupled with threats of North Korea who wants to launch a nuclear missile attack on the United States, are keeping the people of Hawaii tense. It is a probable target identified by Kim Jong-un, hence when there was a public broadcast over the television and mobile phones sent out emergency warning of an impending missile, panic spread among the Hawaiians.
Sky News reports that the message was a clear-cut one calling on everyone to make a beeline for the nearest shelter. The message added that it was not a drill.
The result was an obvious rush of people heading for shelters, some of them in unfamiliar locations. However, it turned out to be a False alarm and people heaved a sigh of relief.
Hawaii is tense
The message was retracted after more than half an hour. David Ige, the governor of Hawaii, expressed his apologies, and termed the accidental alert as "unfortunate" and "regrettable" but the damage was already done. This was evident from the huge number of vehicles that were left abandoned on one of the roads of Honolulu, the capital of Hawaii.
The driver of these vehicles apparently ran inside a nearby tunnel to escape from the effects of the nuclear missile attack. According to eye witnesses, the people were caught off-guard and appeared to be helpless.
In fact, one person forced his child to climb down a manhole for safety. Readers may recall that the country had already tested its air raid sirens that would warn of an impending aerial attack from North Korea.
Will North Korea really attack?
Right now, there is peace in the Korean peninsula because of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
The United States has decided to keep its joint military exercises with South Korea on hold for the duration of the games. That decision was a result of Kim Jong-un’s peace initiative with the South. However, that should not lull anyone into a false sense of security because the situation could change fast, and Hawaii would have to be prepared to face any eventuality since it is the nearest US location for North Korea.
According to USA Today, the cities of New York and Washington, D.C., are almost 7,000 miles from Pyongyang while Honolulu is nearer – it is about 4,600 miles away. Hence, it is more vulnerable to any nuclear missile attack from Pyongyang. Hawaii had checked its sirens which would provide advance information to the people of an approaching missile so that they could take evasive actions from nuclear radiation. A monthly schedule was also drawn up to ensure that people remained alert to the dangers. The final outcome of such preparations is anybody’s guess.
