Mission of Hope founder Julie Holland and daughter Caroline were enjoying a beautiful morning on the beach at Hanauma Bay in Hawaii when their phones alerted them of a terrifying message.
The emergency push alert that went to all phones in Hawaii said in all caps, "Ballistic missile threat inbound to Hawaii. Seek immediate shelter. This is not a drill."
The Hollands said they immediately panicked. The said the lifeguard on the beach told everyone to seek shelter immediately.
"He said, 'I don't want you all to panic but I think a lot of you all have gotten the missile threat text message. We have not gotten this before but we need you all to evacuate and please try not to panic," Caroline said.
Caroline and Julie went to the nearest building which was a bathroom. Realizing there was no roof on the bathroom, they decided to start hiking up a hill from the beach to seek shelter.
"On our way up there we heard there was a missile on it's way to Hawaii and it was 25 minutes away and it would hit us unless the US intercepted it. At that point, I started to shake and I was freaking out. I just graduated from PA school and I was wondering if I had scissors to help cut bandages," Caroline said.
Caroline and her mother Julie just decided to sit on the beach and enjoy their last few minutes together.
"We just started praying and settled down," the Hollands said.
Shortly after, another push alert was sent out that read, "There is no missile threat or danger to the State of Hawaii. Repeat. False alarm."
Hawaii U.S. Senator Brian Schatz turned to social media and tweeted the false alarm was "totally inexcusable" and was caused by human error.
Holland and her daughter were completely relieved. They told 10News they are ready to come back home to Tennessee and appreciate all the calls and messages from loved ones making sure they were okay.