Official login failure added to missile alert mayhem

Hawaii Gov. David Ige. Photo / AP

Hawaii's governor has admitted his response to the missile false alarm this month was delayed after he forgot his Twitter login details.

David Ige was informed within two minutes that the text alert sent to all residents on the archipelago on January 13 had been issued in error and there was no threat.

But it took the politician another 17 minutes to issue a correction and tweet from his personal account, "There is NO missile threat" after the incident created panic in the US state.

The 61-year-old went into more detail about the reasons for his delayed response this week, clarifying that he initially couldn't access his Twitter account. "I have to confess that I don't know my Twitter account logons and the passwords," he told reporters.

"So certainly that's one of the changes that I've made. I've been putting that on my phone so that we can access the social media directly."

Ige explained that he had other priorities immediately after being informed of the error, adding: "I was in the process of making calls to the other leadership team both in Hawaii emergency management as well as others. The focus really was on trying to get as many people informed about the fact that it was a false alert."

The state was sent into chaos after an official alert wrongly warned a ballistic missile was incoming amid tensions between the United States and North Korea.

"BALLISTIC MISSILE THREAT INBOUND TO HAWAII. SEEK IMMEDIATE SHELTER. THIS IS NOT A DRILL," the alert read. It took authorities almost 40 minutes to advise people via the same system that the message was a false alarm after an employee pressed the wrong button at Hawaii's Emergency Management Agency.

- Telegraph Group Ltd