While many Canadians were being spooked by the surprise screaming from their phones and television sets Wednesday, a man and his girlfriend in the state of Hawaii sued the government there for the false missile alert last January that gave him a heart attack. James Sean Shields and Brenda Reichel filed the suit naming Vern Miyagi, former head of Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. Of course Canada’s Ready Alert Day carried with it an assurance that “there is no danger to your health or safety.” That’s quite an improvement over the Hawaiian model which said the little state was under nuclear attack and there was just a minute or so to take cover (if you wanted to bother). Nonetheless, many Canadians wondered just what form of imminent emergency would warrant such an alert. Outer space, unleashed missiles or post-earthquake tsunami.
Emergency 🚨 Alert Test from 📱 📱📱📱📱 📱📱📱📱📱📱📱📱 pic.twitter.com/BZjqOgUqUF
— Simon Ostler (@SimonOstler) November 28, 2018
