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Residents press HIEMA for faster fixes after Nanakuli civil-defense siren goes dark
Summary
Residents at the July 16 Nanakuli/Waianae Neighborhood Board meeting demanded quicker repairs and clearer timelines after HIEMA said the Nanakuli siren (OA317) is inoperable and repairs were referred to DAGS with work not expected to begin until early 2025.
Kiele Amundsen, communications director for the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, told the Nanakuli/Waianae Neighborhood Board on July 16 that the Nanakuli siren identified as OA317 is currently inoperable because of failed speaker drivers and a damaged top-mount solar panel, and that HIEMA has referred the work to the Department of Accounting and General Services for contracted repair.
"We anticipate early 2025 for repair work to begin," Amundsen said, and pointed residents to HIEMA's public siren dashboard at ready.hawaii.gov for the locations of operational sirens. The presentation listed the Nanakuli Beach Park and Nana Ekapono Elementary sirens (O8316) and several Ma'ili sirens as operational, while OA317 was called out as needing replacement parts.
Community members reacted sharply. "It has been broken for 4 years," said Elizabeth Dixon, who added this was the only siren she could hear from her home and stressed that her 78-year-old father, who has Parkinson's and dementia, depends on the siren for overnight warning. "How am I supposed to get him to safety?"
Residents and board members pressed HIEMA on procurement and budget details, arguing that lengthy repair timelines leave kupuna and households without reliable alerting. "We are not going to wait to be another Maui," said a resident who identified themself as Blessings, urging state and city leadership to act within a month. Several speakers asked HIEMA to bring Administrator James Burrows to the next board meeting to provide a more concrete timeline and explain whether repairs can be expedited.
Amundsen acknowledged the urgency and said HIEMA would relay the questions to its logistics team and work with DAGS to provide a clearer schedule at the board's next meeting. The board chair asked HIEMA to arrange for Administrator Burrows to attend the August meeting for follow-up.
Why it matters: Neighborhood residents say civil-defense sirens are a critical backstop for people without mobile phones, for those asleep at night, and for kupuna who may not have alternative alerting methods. The board scheduled follow-up to press for repair dates and procurement clarity.
