(CNN) Hawaiian residents and vacationers spent 38 horrific minutes preparing for an incoming ballistic missile and possible death on Saturday, until the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency corrected a false alarm message.

Some of their family members tried to warn others of the impending danger they thought was headed to the islands; others said their goodbyes.

Sara Donchey, in Hawaii

"I was in a bit of a stupor because I had just woken up from a nap," said Donchey, an anchor at CNN affiliate KPRC in Houston who was visiting Hawaii. "The first thing I noticed was nine missed calls from my dad, then my mom's texts telling me to take shelter and that she loved me."

"Perhaps the most upsetting part came several hours afterward, when I realized the agony my mother went through for those 38 minutes," she says. "She thought her daughter was going to die alone. No one would console her. That's what I felt the worst about."

Read More