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Hawaii has reinstated tests of its nuclear threat warning system for the first time since the Cold War. Next time you’re in the land of aloha on the first business day of the month, at promptly 11:45 in the morning, you’ll hear the alarm sound for about two minutes. That’s just in case North Korean leader Kim Jong-un makes good on his threat to blast Hawaii in response to an escalating war of insults with President Trump. The news arrives as North Korea test fired its first missile (which landed near Japan) in months.
If Pyongyang actually did lob a missile in Hawaii’s direction, the warning system would give islanders time to respond — but only a little time. “Pacific Command would take about fives minutes to characterize a launch, where the missile is going, which means the population would have about 15 minutes to take shelter,” explained Emergency Management administrator Vern Miyagi, “It’s not much time at all. But it is enough time to give yourself a chance to survive.”
And what action do you take to survive? Not much. Hawaii doesn’t have enough fall out shelters for all its residents, much less visitors, and the whole island set up prevents evacuation in that span of time. Even the Emergency Management Agency predicts that at least 18,000 out of 1.4 million Hawaiians would die in an actual missile attack. After all, the official emergency plan is simply to go inside and stay put for up to two weeks. While waiting for the all clear, there wouldn’t be much to do except take a decontamination shower (skip the hair conditioner, please), eat canned goods, and tune in to the radio.
“They have been developing their nuclear capabilities faster than expected,” said South Korea’s Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon of North Korea’s missile development efforts. “We cannot rule out the possibility of North Korea declaring the completion of their nuclear program next year.” In other words, North Korea might not be ready to pounce, yet. But they might be ready soon, and Hawaii is on high alert in case the day comes when paradise turns into apocalypse.
(Via CNN)