There has been a lot in the news lately about Hawaii’s emergency siren system. The Big Q in Wednesday’s paper asked if people thought the emergency siren system was effective (“Do you think Hawaii’s emergency siren system is effective?,” Star-Advertiser, Sept. 6). Of those who answered the poll, 29% said no, and 42% said it could be more clear. That’s a whopping 71% of the people who responded who don’t really understand what the siren system means.
Instead of pointing fingers and putting blame on someone else, why don’t we just educate ourselves? We all know what a red traffic light means. We should know what the sirens mean.
There are enough news sources (radio, TV, internet, newspapers) for us to know when something dangerous is headed our way. When we hear the sirens, it’s time to take action. On the other hand, just because you don’t hear the sirens, it doesn’t mean you should sit back and and do nothing. We have enough information at our fingertips to think for, and take care of, ourselves and others close to us.
Healing will take a lot of time. Let’s use that time to help each other make things better instead of trying to break everything down even more.
Barbara Dittrich
Ewa Beach
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