“How seriously are people going to take this system?”
They’d better take it very seriously.
They had their one surprise drill. Quit whining about the gov’t screwing up, and each look at their own personal reaction to the news - and figure out how they’re going to act _next_ time, when it’s for real.
Standing in a parking lot screaming won’t help.
Neither will stuffing kids in sewer pipes. (Note that the fastest manmade object was a manhole cover, accelerated by a nuclear blast.)