Question: There is a beautiful shoreline walk between Ko Olina and Electric Beach, with lots of marine life and wonderful views. However, there is a large pole with six large speakers facing the ocean. It makes a loud strange noise, constantly disturbing the peace and quiet. What is this thing, why is it facing the ocean and how does it get turned off?
Answer: It’s a civil defense outdoor warning siren.
“The sirens should not be making sounds when they are not activated for emergencies or the monthly test,” said Shelly Kunishige, spokeswoman for Hawaii State Civil Defense.
Based on your complaint, staff from the state agency, as well as the city Department of Emergency Management, checked the siren at Tracks Beach on March 18 and found the batteries were low on power. (Tracks is also known as Electric Beach, because Hawaiian Electric Co.’s Kahe power plant is across the street.)
If a siren is heard on Oahu and there is no accompanying Emergency Alert System broadcast, the public is asked to report it to the Department of Emergency Management. Call 723-8960.
After hours, call 911 or civil defense’s State Warning Point (staffed around the clock) at 733-4300.
The Tracks Beach siren is a type that rotates, so it’s not just directed toward the ocean.
“It is scheduled to be replaced in a few weeks with a omnidirectional siren,” Kunishige said. That type of siren blares in all directions.
Adopt A Siren
Want to make sure the sirens in your area are working properly? Then consider “adopting” one.
As a bonus, the first person signing up to adopt a specific siren gets to name it.
Introduced about a year ago, the Adopt-a-Siren program allows people to basically look after 176 sirens on Oahu that are under the oversight of the city, said Melvin Kaku, director of Emergency Management.
An additional 14 sirens are operated and maintained by the military.
So far, a little more than half have been adopted, Kaku said.
With adoption comes a simple responsibility: When the monthly emergency siren testing is conducted, you are asked to report any problems or malfunctions.
“Generally speaking, we use (the monthly testing) as the venue for people to report (problems),” Kaku said. “That being said, there’s nothing that precludes, and we encourage, (other) folks to report” any malfunctioning sirens, such as the one at Tracks Beach, “since we can’t be in every place at a given time.”
Also, if anyone sees a siren that may have been tampered with or “been graffiti’d,” they are asked to report it to Emergency Management, said communications officer Harold Buckle.
To adopt a siren, go to sirens.honolulu.gov and you’ll see a map of Oahu where all the sirens are generally located.
The green icons indicate those that have been adopted, and the brown ones mark those still available. Click on a brown icon, then sign up online.
Adopted sirens sport names reflecting their locations, such as Fort DeRussy, Moanalua Valley and Sand Island; names, such as Gertrude, Steve and Chloe; as well as descriptive ones, such as Mr. Loudmouth, Work and Stay Safe Ewa Beach.
Mahalo
To the young men and women of Surfing the Nation in Wahiawa for cleaning out the homeless camp near Karsten Thot Bridge recently. When the homeless move on, they do not clean up after themselves and leave a huge mess, without regard to how it ruins our island. I am impressed with Surfing the Nation members doing good deeds for others with compassion and a giving spirit. Wahiawa should feel blessed to have you part of the town. — Judi Plumer
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