A false alert sent to residents in Hawaii this past weekend caused people to panic and wonder if there was a real threat. Could something similar happen to us here in Iowa? Technically, yes. But officials say that the likelihood of a false alarm is very low.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds asked officials to check on procedures used by the Iowa Department of Homeland Security immediately after the situation in Hawaii. The director of that program said that Iowa is in very good shape when it comes to avoiding such an error. Reynolds also stressed that IF such an alert was mistakenly issued, procedures are in place to correct the mistake immediately. It took nearly 38 minutes for officials to clear up the alert sent to the Hawaiian islands.

State officials say even though they are highly confident that such an error won't occur to Iowans, there is no way to 100% guarantee it won't ever happen.

 

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