A few Kelowna residents were among the many that were alarmed this morning by a in Hawaii.
Kelowna resident Renee Wasylyk was enjoying breakfast near Poipu Beach when a high-pitched buzz from her cell phone alerted her, and others around her, to an incoming 鈥渂allistic missile threat.鈥�
鈥淚t was pretty nerve-wracking I would say, because we all got it at the same time,鈥� she said.
She called the front desk and found that they had also received the message and didn鈥檛 know how to respond.
鈥淲hen it said 鈥榟ead for shelter鈥� like where is shelter? Is there a specific shelter we should be heading for? It was a little bit crazy.鈥�
The local news stations also didn鈥檛 have any information, it was through Twitter that Wasylyk initially found out that the incoming missile was a false alarm.
鈥淭he first thing you thought that OK this is a joke鈥�. then you鈥檙e thinking how long do we have? What鈥檚 going to happen? Where do we go from here?鈥�
Wasylyk was considering moving with her family to the building鈥檚 parkade for protection.
Thirty minutes later she received another message on her phone saying the first message was a false alarm.
The emergency alert, which was sent to cell phones, said in all caps, 鈥淏allistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.鈥�
Hawaii Emergency Management Agency spokesman Richard Repoza said it was a false alarm and the agency is trying to determine what happened.
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carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com
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