Emergency alerts examined after Hawaii

An inquiry will be launched into how a false missile alert was sent to people in Hawaii and then not corrected for 38 minutes.

A US House of Representatives panel will review a false missile alert sent in Hawaii over the weekend that stirred panic and anger in the Pacific island state.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee said in a statement that the hearing by one of its subcommittees would discuss safety communications and receive an update from the Federal Communications Commission "on its investigation into the recent false emergency alert event in Hawaii."

Authorities blamed human error on the false alarm in Hawaii that was not corrected for 38 minutes.

FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said on Sunday that Hawaii apparently did not have adequate safeguards in place and that government officials must work to prevent future incidents.

The employee who mistakenly sent the missile alert has been temporarily reassigned.

"The public needs to be able to trust that the emergency alert they receive is legitimate. We need to make sure that a mistake like what happened in Hawaii never happens again," the top Democrats and Republicans on the panel said in a statement.

To prevent a repeat of the incident, Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency has said it will require two employees to activate the alert system - one to issue the warning and another to confirm it.

The agency also has incorporated a way of issuing an immediate false-alarm notice in the event of an error.


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Source: AAP



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