Transcript for Hawaiians panic after false missile warning alert

We begin with late breaking developments from Hawaii. Our team inside the control room. The scene of that human error. The employee who triggered that alarm off the job. There are more changes to come. Residents outraged about the 38 minutes of terror they endured. New video shows people running for their lives. One father trying to safe his daughter by ordering her into a manhole. Others hiding in bunkers. Built during word war II. Now this revelation. Hawaii officials knew the alarm was false within 3 minutes. Why did it take so long to give the all clear? Is president trump's administration doing enough to prepare for the real thing. ABC's Jim Avila starts us off in Honolulu. Reporter: Tonight the veteran technician that sent Hawaii into a panic that a ballistic missile was a mere 123123 -- 12 minutes from impact and will not be allowed near the button until after retraining. This after hawaiian officials change the way they send out alerts. The terrifying warning took 38 minutes to correct. If you're outdoors seek immediate shelter. Reporter: Despite officials conceding they knew there was no incoming missile within 3 minutes. The mistake causing chaos like this father to push his daughter down a manhole. Others calng loved ones for the last good-bye. I wanted to call my wife. And tell her I love her. Reporter: This lucky family had a house with a World War II bunker. They used it. Piling in for this 2018 threat. The part of the message that made me panic this is not a drill. Reporter: Hawaii's governor said it happened because a wrong button was pressed. Tonight officials temporarily suspending future drills and changing the rules. It will be a two person whenever that goes click, the application is selected and pushed. There will be two people watching. Today the congresswoman who first tweeted this was all a first alarm had these harsh words. It's an epic failure of leadership. Yes, it was unacceptable that it went out in the first place, but the fact that it took so long for them to put out that second message, to calm people. To allay their fears that this was a mistake. A false alarm, is something that has to be fixed, corrected with people held accountable. Reporter: The FCC launching which helps manage the emergency alert system launching its own investigation saying the "Government of Hawaii did not have reasonable safeguards to prevent the transmission of a false alert." We went inside the building that monitors threats. Tonight questions if the federal government is ready for the real thing. A white house official telling ABC the trump administration has yet to test formal response plans in the event of a nuclear missile attack on the united States. Jim Avila joining us from Honolulu. The white house pushing back saying they plan to conduct a drill next month. Jim you're learning why it took more than 38 minutes to correct the error. There were two mistakes made. The first was the false alarm. The second was the application used to take down that alarm and tell people that it was false was not loaded in the computer. It took them 38 minutes to get it loaded. Now it's in the machine. Jim Avila leading us off. Thank you.

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