The surprising things people in Hawaii did when they thought they were about to be nuked.

On Saturday morning thousands of Hawaii residents awoke to an emergency text message warning them a missile was on its way and they had approximately 10 minutes to live.

It turned out to be a false alarm of course – a blunder caused by a Hawaii Emergency Management employee pushing the wrong button. But for 38 heart-stopping minutes before authorities could get the all-clear ‘sorry, our bad’ message out, many of these residents and tourists genuinely thought they were about to die – or at least face nuclear fallout.

As you’d imagine, in a state of panic and thinking the end was nigh, people exhibited some pretty standard – and not so standard – the-world’s-about-to-end behaviour.

Curious to learn what people did faced with potential destruction, Redditor Echocookie asked: “People who made an impulse decision when they found out Hawaii was going to be nuked, what did you do and do you regret it?”

These are just a few of the most surprising responses, including a man who confessed to his affairs and another who comfort ate bread.

Drink, what else?

Two_black_eyes turned to alcohol like so many others would have, there was just one problem.

“I got drunk for the first time in four years of sobriety… oops.”

Listen: The Chaser’s Chas Licciardello explains why we have nothing to fear when it comes to nuclear war with North Korea. (Post continues.)

Oooo-kay then…

Reddit user Lookma_noserotonin learned his dad’s reaction to imenent death was a strange one. At least it only lead to a minor regret.

“My 70-year-old dad ate two loaves of bread while hiding in his closet. He said he only regrets it because he has to buy more bread now.”

Last man standing

As GiantMoby_Dick explained, he was the only man in a hostel room full of women around the same age as him, so when the text came through and they all looked at each other, he knew what he needed to do:

“Awkwardly comfort them with jokes while they cried. Not very romantic.”

Deathbed confessions

Everyone knows deathbed repenting is the only way to get to heaven. At least that’s the approach taken by Jmanmaster’s uncle, who lives in Hawaii with his family.

“He’s been cheating on his wife for two years. We all found out about it in a mass text he sent five minutes after the emergency text went out. He wanted “clear the air” before he died.”

‘I comfort ate.’

Meanwhile, Dickheadfartface had an interesting approach to facing the apocalypse.

“I ate all the leftover lasagna in my fridge. I figured that if shits about to hit the fan, I better carb tf up.”

Sounds reasonable to us.

‘Good old crime.’

Logistics problem.

Redditor Fusepark had the right idea, kicking into survival-mode, now he just wishes he’d thought more about the logistics.

“All I regret is filling my emergency water containers right behind the car. So now I’m blocked in the garage by 150 gallons of water.”

Of course, as much as we laugh, we really don’t know how we’d act in the same situation. What do you think you might do if you thought a nuclear bomb was coming? Tell us in the comments below.