An Alberta politician vacationing in Hawaii says the minutes she spent believing a missile attack was imminent were “really, really frightening.”
Karen McPherson, who represents Calgary-Mackay-Nose Hill in the provincial legislature, was waiting for a conference call this morning when an alert appeared on her phone.
It stated there was an “inbound missile threat,” warned her to take shelter and said it was not a drill.
Have never moved so fast in my life, had no idea where to go, but I was going there quite quickly. Now studying and have a plan
It appeared to be the real deal pic.twitter.com/tHUQlcJrLI
McPherson, who’s staying in a condominium on the west side of Maui, woke up her friend and started driving for the tsunami evacuation route.
The two eventually discovered the alert had been sent by mistake and there was no inbound missile.
Officials in Hawaii have apologized for what they call “a mistake,” and have vowed to ensure it never happens again.