Hawaii Emergency Management Agency

The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) is the body responsible for managing emergencies in the United States State of Hawaii.[1]

The director is major general Kenneth S. Hara and the administrator is James DS. Barros.

The agency employs roughly 70 personnel focused on emergency management duties. HI-EMA manages a full lifecycle of disasters - Mitigation, Preparedness, Response, and recovery. Most disasters, and all major disasters involve these phases.[2]

On January 13, 2018, the Agency received worldwide attention when one of its employees accidentally broadcast a ballistic missile alert to all the citizens of Hawaii, which, at the height of American nuclear tensions with North Korea, caused a statewide panic.[3]

Prior to hurricane season, the agency organizes Makani Pahili.[4]

  1. ^ "Hawaii Emergency Management Agency". Dod.hawaii.gov. Retrieved 31 August 2017.
  2. ^ "Hawaii Emergency Management Agency - Press Release". Dod.hawaii.gov. Retrieved 17 March 2018.
  3. ^ Cohen, Zachary (2018-01-13). "Missile threat alert for Hawaii a false alarm". CNN. Washington D.C. Retrieved 2024-04-27.
  4. ^ Weintraub, Adam (2023-05-03). "Emergency Managers, Officials Will Conduct Makani Pāhili Hurricane Exercise". Office of the Governor. Honolulu. Retrieved 2024-04-26.