In my opinion, this begs the question: what was the population of Hawaii expected to do in response to this warning? From my reading of the articles, for the most part people did not know what to do. In their position, without a clear plan, I might just hug my partner and children that one last time.
I wonder if there is a clear plan, and if there's a better way to communicate that to the population. That seems like maybe it should be more of a priority then this alert message, which seemed to only sow confusion.
There probably is a plan, but nobody wants to be taught it because of backlash to civil emergency plans.
The "Duck & Cover" stuff is lampooned for being rediculous, but it's actually what you should do. The idea that everyone will die from being incinerated in a nuclear blast is a misconception. Most people in America would survive the initial nuclear blast from a full Russian strike (and China, etc. have even smaller arsenals).
In the short term, act like you would in a Tornado. Basement or if you don't have one, an room with no windows.
Longer term--stay in side for as long as you can because fallout will disipate. The longer you don't go outside the better.
I wonder if there is a clear plan, and if there's a better way to communicate that to the population. That seems like maybe it should be more of a priority then this alert message, which seemed to only sow confusion.