NANAKULI, Hawaii (KHON2) — West Oahu residents are raising the alarm over an emergency siren that has been silent in their community for months.
Nanakuli residents said reporting the issue to the State has been no help and elected officials are hoping for a speedy repair from crews.
Nanakuli resident Daniel Dixon said the siren at Ulehawa Beach Park has not worked for at least one year.
“And this one I’ve actually reported multiple times and nothing’s been done about it,” Dixon said. “Ever since they installed this one back in 2007, we’ve had a lot of problems with this one to where we can’t even hear it anymore and now it’s completely dead.”
Rep. Darius Kila said everyone is a bit sensitive after Lahaina.
“Makaha just had a fire the other day,” Rep. Kila said, “so knowing now that the prerogative is that the sirens can be used for any emergency, I think folks are heightened, right?”
The Neighborhood Board said crews were actually sent out and fixed a different siren in Nanakuli in October, 2023 that had been vandalized and damaged — the one at Ulehawa looks more like it has been neglected.
“If you look, it’s actually rusted over and it hasn’t been touched at all,” Dixon said.
“Now the only difference with Lahaina is their sirens were actually working,” Nanakuli-Maili Neighborhood Board chair Samantha DeCorte said, “they just didn’t sound the sirens. Here, we need to start taking preventative measures to give us a fighting chance down here.”
“Heading into a, what’s going to be a dry summer,” Rep. Kila said. “I’m hoping HI-EMA is taking all of these concerns to heart, knowing folks are sensitive.”
The Hawaii Emergency Management website shows 412 sites where sirens are installed — 76 of them either require maintenance or are beyond repair.
Officials said the one at Ulehawa is offline and requires major repairs before it will be operational, but do not have a timeline on when those repairs will be made.