Question: My wife and I have been living in Hawaii for over a year. We are fortunate to reside in a beautiful senior community in Ewa Beach. I am very concerned that during the recent test of the emergency warning system we were barely able to hear the warning sirens. When I called the Honolulu Department of Emergency Management I was told that I should download their app to my smartphone and that it would provide a warning sound in case of an emergency. While that might work for my wife and I, it does not solve the need of the larger community to be alerted. Many of our fellow residents are frail, disabled or quite elderly (90-plus years old). It just seems to us that the sirens that are supposed to provide warnings need to be louder in order to be more effective. Of course, during a true emergency we would try our best to make sure everyone in our community is alerted and safe.
Answer: About 22% of the emergency sirens statewide aren’t fully operational, including at least two in your area; that may be the problem, rather than sirens that were working Nov. 1 not being loud enough.
The siren near Oneula Beach Park in Ewa Beach was struck by lightning and is beyond repair; it is to be replaced this summer, said Adam Weintraub, spokesperson for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency. Another siren, at Hoalauna Community Park, even closer to your home, needs maintenance, which should be completed this month, he said. “The siren team still needs to verify the problem, but they believe that’s a fairly easy one to fix,” he said.
Across Hawaii, 326 of the 418 sirens in the All-Hazard Statewide Outdoor Warning Siren System are fully operational; 29 need maintenance HI-EMA can handle; 37 require outside contractors to fix; and 26 are inoperable and beyond repair, according to HI-EMA’s public siren dashboard at dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/siren-status-map.
The outdoor siren system “is one major piece of the state’s emergency alert system. When sounded, it’s intended to inform the public that they should seek more information about a hazard that could affect them,” Weintraub said.
When fully operational, the sound output of each siren is about 120 decibels, “which is audible over an area of roughly a half-mile radius (depending on geography). That sound level is about as loud as a jet aircraft on takeoff, and is just below the level that is considered painfully loud and can cause hearing damage with even brief exposure,” he said.
In addition to the sirens, three other systems issue public alerts during an emergency and all provide more detailed information than the sirens, he said.
>> “The Wireless Emergency Alert system delivers alerts to mobile devices such as cellular phones.”
>> “The Emergency Alert System delivers text and audio messages to radios and televisions.”
>> “Opt-in county systems, such as HNL.info in Honolulu, provide a variety of alert options.”
HNL.info is the county app you learned about when you called Honolulu DEM. For more information and instructions on downloading the app or creating an online account, go to honolulu.gov/dem. (We did email DEM about your concerns, but were referred to HI-EMA, the state agency).
Residents of other islands can find a link to their county’s alert system at dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/get-ready/.
Q: How long is a handicap parking placard good for?
A: The long-term disability parking permit is good for six years and the temporary permit is good for six months. Either can be renewed. For more information, go to health.hawaii.gov/dcab/.
Mahalo
I want to thank workers from FEMA and the Red Cross who are still here helping the Maui fire survivors. I see these other disasters around the world, like the hurricane in Acapulco, and I think, wow, people really came through for Maui and we appreciate it. — A reader
Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
