Hawaii Island Information Update for June 15th, 2019

Construction on 3 New Emergency Sirens began on Friday morning (June 14th).

Construction on New Warning Sirens began Friday Morning (June 14th) at 3 Hawaii County Parks in Hilo.

Construction on all 3 sirens are expected to continue until Friday June 28th, 2019 and Hawaii County Civil Defense Officials are advising residents and business owners in the vicinity of Ainako Park, Malama Park, and Mohouli Park to expect an increase in noise and traffic during work hours.

Each siren will be 45 feet high and can be heard as far as 3,400 feet away, if the listener is outdoors.

Testing of the new sirens will follow once construction is complete. Those dates are yet to be to determined.

Hawaii County Officials explain the purpose of Outdoor Warning Sirens:

Outdoor warning sirens, located throughout the State and Island of Hawaii, are used to alert the public to emergencies. In an emergency, the siren will sound for three minutes, pause for one minute, sound for three minutes, pause for one minute, then sound for three minutes.

Upon hearing a siren, please listen to your local radio station. In addition to sounding for emergencies, the sirens are tested monthly. This usually occurs at 11:45 a.m. on the first business day of each month. During this test, all warning sirens sound a one-minute steady tone.