Emily Batty in the midst of Hawaii training ride when ballistic missile alert goes off
Six minutes into a training ride, Batty received a frightening emergency text message
At a little past 1 pm EST (8 am HST), Canadian national cross country mountain bike champion Emily Batty had just headed out for a training ride in Hawaii when an alert popped up onto her iPhone.
6 mins into our ride here in Hawaii and this is the text I just received? Not sure what to do. Sirens are going off. pic.twitter.com/D5USDAw3wp
— Emily Batty (@emilybatty) January 13, 2018
“BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL” the message read. The emergency alert was sent to cell phones across the volcanic island that lies in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
Commenting on the alarming emergency alert, Batty posted a picture of the message and wrote on Twitter, “6 mins into our ride here in Hawaii and this is the text I just received? Not sure what to do. Sirens are going off.”
The emergency message came during heightened tensions between the United States and North Korea with Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un boasting about their nuclear arsenals. About 38 minutes after the emergency message went out causing fear and reported panic amoung it’s recipients, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency confirmed it was a false alarm according to the New York Times. A message was sent out on phones that there was no missile treat.
Tulsi Gabbard, the Democratic representative for Hawaii also confirmed the message was sent out in error and that there was no missile threat. The message was reportedly sent out because of human error.
Once it was confirmed to be a false alarm, Batty summed up the scene on the ground. “Ridiculous, you think they would have given everyone a heads up on this. People are crying in shelter and panicking everywhere.”
https://twitter.com/emilybatty/status/952248238949765126
Batty is in Hawaii training for the 2018 season where she is accumulating valuable pre-season kilometres.
Raphaël Gagné, Haley Smith and Andrew l”Esperance are also in Maui training.
