After false Hawaii missile alert, emergency warning system must be fixed

Saturday’s terrifying experience in Hawaii — in which an emergency management worker’s mistake, uncorrected for 38 minutes, led residents to get an emergency alert on their smartphones warning them to take shelter because of an inbound ballistic missile — is only the latest and most egregious example of problems with the nation’s emergency warning system.

Since 2012, local officials have been able to send short, loud messages to smartphones about dangerous weather conditions, abducted children and threatening fugitives. But there is plenty of evidence the system isn’t nearly as sophisticated and foolproof as it could be. It needs to have safeguards to ensure false alarms aren’t issued. It also needs to be able to send much more targeted messages to avoid creating panic in areas that aren’t at risk.

This problem led officials to be cautious about issuing alerts last year as devastating Hurricane Harvey neared Houston and at the start of the deadly Wine Country fires in Northern California — prompting California’s two senators to raise questions.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai launched an effort this month to push U.S. telecommunications giants and smartphone makers to sharply upgrade the emergency alert system, allowing for geo-targeted alerts by Nov. 30, 2019. A report on the Recode website said these companies were pushing back and asking for more time to implement the changes. Apple also warned that the requirement could drain iPhone batteries.

The FCC should take these concerns seriously. But it should also demand change as soon as is prudently possible. It is obvious the U.S. needs a much better emergency alert system.

— The San Diego Union-Tribune