Four tsunami warning sirens on Hawaii Island failed Monday’s test, according to Hawaii County Civil Defense.
Two of the sirens were repeat offenders, said John Drummond, an administrative officer in Hilo.
“In May, two (of the sirens) didn’t sound as well,” he said. “They were on Baker Avenue (in Keaukaha) and in Punaluu. We’ve got to get the police guys to take a close look at those.”
Drummond said police officers typically will visit sirens that failed on Fridays to take a closer look at the machinery and try to ascertain the cause.
The other two sirens that failed to sound Monday were in Naalehu and Ainaloa, he said.
“There’s a lot of different things that can cause the sirens to not sound,” he said. “They’re mechanical devices out in the weather, so there’s a variety of factors that can cause (problems).”
When a siren malfunctions, it doesn’t always remain silent. Just less than a year ago, residents in Honomu received a rude awakening about 1:30 a.m. when their tsunami siren activated on its own.
The siren sounded for half an hour before police dispatchers and Civil Defense workers managed to shut it down using radio signal cancel tones. Fire department personnel later arrived to shut it down manually to ensure it wouldn’t accidentally go off again before being repaired.
Drummond said Monday afternoon there had been no more “runaway sirens” in recent memory.
Civil Defense tests the tsunami sirens at 11:45 a.m. the first working day of the month. At the same time, the state’s Emergency Alert System tests its audio broadcasts through radio stations. Apart from natural hazards, the sirens can be used to alert the public to terrorist incidents or acts of war.
The Hawaii Emergency Management Agency asks that members of the public tune to any local radio or television stations for emergency information and instructions broadcast by Civil Defense.
In 2013, the state began a $25.6 million siren modernization program in an attempt to make the system more reliable by instituting a new activation system based on satellite and cellular transmissions. Phase I of the program recently was completed, with the addition of seven new sirens to the system, said Shelley Kunishige with the state Emergency Management Agency.
“As of the latest update, we have 74 current sirens active in Hawaii County,” she said.
Phase II, planned for this summer, will add 25 new or upgraded sirens, and Phase III, scheduled for fall 2016, will add 42 additions and upgrades, she said.
That will bring the island’s total to 128.
Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
