Aussie tourist in Hawaii tells Ross and John about the false missile alert

An emergency alert message warning of a ballistic missile threat sent Hawaii into panic on Saturday morning.

Gabi James, an Australian woman holidaying in Hawaii, was among those who received the message.

This morning she spoke to Ross and John about her reaction to the threat.

“We were fairly chilled about it…some people were very relaxed, some people were panicking and running for shelter,” she said.

Gabi said the text message urged people to seek shelter, but didn’t specify what shelter was.

“We’re staying in a big high rise hotel, and it suddenly didn’t feel particularly safe on level 13… so we actually left our hotel and went somewhere a bit lower. But that’s the confusion about it… what is shelter? Is shelter something that’s more than ten stories… less than ten?”

A follow up message declaring the warning was a false alarm was sent 38 minutes after the first message.

Hawaiian State Governor David Ige has said the false warning was caused by an employee pressing the wrong button, but Gabi is skeptical.

“If indeed it was some person who pressed the wrong button at the wrong time, you feel like you would have got a second message saying it was all a mistake in less than 38 minutes,” she said.

Press PLAY below to hear Ross and John’s full chat with Gabi James.