Things in Hawaii are returning to normal after a push alert warning of an incoming ballistic missile was mistakenly sent to residents Saturday morning.
The alert, which was sent to cellphones, said in all caps, “Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill.”
READ MORE: Accidental ballistic missile alert warning issued to cell phones in Hawaii
Global BC anchor Lynn Colliar, who is on vacation in Maui, was in her hotel room when the harrowing message was sent.
She checked local TV stations and found no mention of it on local news.
WATCH: Lynn Colliar reports from Hawaii
“We had been hearing since we got here about the alarms that they have,” she said. “They’ve been telling everybody, ‘We’re using these sirens, we’re practising with these sirens. If you hear them — if you don’t have any prior alerts — it’s means that it’s just a drill.’
“This alert came saying, ‘This is not a drill’ and yet there was no siren. Right away, that made us question what was going on.”
Shortly after, she checked social media and saw the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency’s tweet stating there was no missile threat to the region.
A revised push alert stating there was no threat went out sometime after that.
Colliar said the minutes before the revised push alert were tense. After the initial alert, she heard the sounds of a car accident outside her hotel room.
WATCH: Hawaii false alarm
“I can only imagine it was someone getting that tweet and being distracted.”
Things eventually returned to normal.
“Hawaii is Hawaii, everyone is back at the beach looking relieved,” Colliar said. “This is a very friendly island at the best of times and today everybody feels somehow like we’ve all dodged a bullet.
“Everybody is hugging each other, there are lots of ‘Alohas.’ There’s a big sense of relief.”
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