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Hawaiian missile scare catches Thunder Bay trio by surprise

Brent Hawley and Jeff and Alexandra Jones were headed out to paddle board with dolphins when the emergency alert was sent.
Brent Hawley Hawaii
Brent Hawley runs in Hawaii. (Instagram).

KAIULA-KONA, Hawaii – The last thing Brent Hawley expected to hear coming over his radio on Saturday morning was an urgent emergency message warning of an impending incoming ballistic missile about to strike Hawaii.

The former Thunder Bay resident and hometown friends Jeff and Alexandra Jones had packed up their paddle boards and were on their way for an early morning frolic with dolphins in the tropical paradise when all three of their phones started blowing up.

“All of a sudden it breaks in and says this is not a drill, over and over and over again,” said Hawley, reached hours later by phone.

“It just said any moment it could land.”

Given rising global tensions and the relative proximity to North Korea, whose dictatorial leader Kim Jong Un earlier this month told the world his nuclear capabilities meant his country could strike anywhere in the United States, it was a bit unnerving, Hawley said.

“No one was super stressed out,” said Hawley, a former long-time Thunder Bay radio personality, whose last gig was hosting the morning show on Energy 103.5, owned by Dougall Media, owners of this website.

“OK, I had one guest from Canada who was extremely stressed.”

The trio stopped their vehicle immediately and turned around, headed back to Hawley’s home in Kaiaulu-Kona, still unsure if the world was coming to an end.

About 15 minutes later Hawley said a Hawaiian congresswoman tweeted out that it was not an actual attack. Authorities later said the alert, from the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, was sent by accident when an employee clicked a wrong button. It took 38 minutes for the warning to be officially revoked.

Hawley, a endurance athlete who has called Hawaii home for the past two years, said he’s gotten used to monthly test of the emergency warning system, which are practice runs for natural disasters like tsunamis. A nuclear missile strike warning was something entirely different, setting off panic throughout the nation's 50th state.

It was jarring, he said.

“I think the radio was scarier than the text messages because of the urgency in the voice,” he said.

The Canadians did what Canadians do best after the all-clear came – they had a few drinks to settle their nerves.

“It was a huge sense of relief,” he said.



Leith Dunick

About the Author: Leith Dunick

A proud Nova Scotian who has called Thunder Bay home since 2002, Leith is Dougall Media's director of news, but still likes to tell your stories too. Wants his Expos back and to see Neil Young at least one more time. Twitter: @LeithDunick
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