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The Maui News
The monthly siren warning system and live test of the audio broadcasting system will be conducted at 11:45 a.m. Thursday, the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency announced.
The Attention Alert Signal is a steady 1-minute tone on all sirens. The steady tone is used to alert the public to any emergency that may pose a threat to life and property. In the event of a real emergency, people should turn on a radio or television for information and instructions for an impending emergency, or if in a coastal inundation area, evacuate to higher ground.
The wailing Attack Warning Signal will not be tested. Brig. Gen. Kenneth Hara last week recommended that the agency suspend its missile attack outreach until it prepares a report on how the state should respond to a chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack or accident, The Associated Press reported. Hara didn't recommended suspending the missile siren tests. But state Department of Defense spokesman Lt. Col. Charles Anthony says the agency decided to stop them as well.
The outdoor warning sirens are one part of a three-component emergency notification system. A simultaneous test of the Emergency Alert System is conducted with the siren system in cooperation with Hawaii's broadcast industry. In a real emergency, warning sirens and Emergency Alert Broadcasts would be joined by alerts via the Wireless Emergency Alert system, which delivers sound-and-text warnings to mobile telephones and compatible devices.
Contact the Maui County Emergency Management Agency at 270-7285 to report siren issues.
Tests of civil defense sirens and the Emergency Alert System are conducted normally on the first working day of the month.