Hawaii Starting to Plan for North Korea Nuke Strike

By John Johnson,  Newser Staff

The antics of North Korea’s Kim Jong Un are officially no longer funny in Hawaii.

State officials are rolling out a civil-preparedness campaign in case of a nuclear attack by North Korea, reports Hawaii News Now. Part of that means public-service announcements about what people should do if Pyongyang launches a missile.

As the Honolulu Star-Advertiser explains, the warnings wouldn’t be those of the “duck and cover” variety from the Cold War era, but would be similar to those of an active-shooter situation. They would advise people to “get inside, stay inside, and stay tuned.”

More details are to be unveiled on Friday about the campaign, which comes in the wake of North Korea’s test this month of an intercontinental ballistic missile. If the North launched one, Hawaii residents would have, at most, about 15 minutes of warning.

North Korea’s successful test-fire of the intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-14 at an undisclosed location on July 5 – Source: dailymail.co.uk

Hawaii is now preparing residents for the threat of nuclear attack (a previous nuclear disaster drill at Queen’s Medical Center August 16, 2006 in Honolulu) Source: dailymail.co.uk

The campaign, by Aloha State’s Emergency Management Agency, will see regular Cold War-style evacuation drills for schools on the Hawaiian islands (a disaster drill at Queen’s Medical Center August 16, 2006 in Honolulu) Source: dailymail.co.uk

A second part of the campaign will be once-monthly tests of a new emergency siren; the tests are slated to begin as soon as November and will take place on the first workday of each month.

“We do not want to cause any undue stress for the public; however, we have a responsibility to plan for all hazards,” says the director of Hawaii’s Emergency Management Agency, which says the current threat assessment is low.

A post earlier this month at the respected 38North.org said North Korea “has an unreliable missile that can reach Alaska or Hawaii with a single nuclear warhead,” but is probably a year or two away from posing a threat to the West Coast.

One group not thrilled with the state’s new initiative: tourism officials. A spokeswoman for the Hawaii Tourism Agency says the chances of an attack are “very remote” and thus the new campaign sounds alarmist.

This article originally appeared on newser.com.