City works to improve info flow

Among proposals is a dedicated AM station for information broadcasts in crises

Mayor Mufi Hannemann yesterday said the city is working to enhance communication during emergencies like earthquakes and other natural disasters by using the city's traffic management center, which is linked to radio and TV stations on Oahu.

The city began training staff yesterday to access the state's Civil Defense Emergency Alert System to broadcast messages dealing with specific needs of Oahu residents during a catastrophe. A more ambitious plan calls for the city to run its own AM radio station, the mayor said.

"We at the city share that frustration," Hannemann said about Sunday's troubled communication between officials and the public. "We found ourselves in competition in getting on the only radio outlet that was available to the public."

Hannemann, who was in South Korea when the magnitude-6.7 quake struck near the Big Island, said the city may set up an AM radio frequency in the future to transmit alerts on everything from tsunami to terrorism. That station, which would need approval from the Federal Communications Commission and require construction of a 145-foot tower, would not have regular daily programming, being available only for emergencies, he said.

"The city is in the best position to provide vital information to the public," Hannemann said.

It is unclear how much the station would cost or how soon it could completed. The city said it is already connected to the live traffic center, which has a backup generator, and expects to be ready to work with the Emergency Alert System by early next week.

The alert system was established in late 1994 to let authorities warn the public about emergencies through prerecorded messages of up to two minutes that override original programming on radio and television channels. But Hannemann said state control of the system and a lack of trained staff has prevented the city's use of the alert in the past.

Oahu Civil Defense was unable to put out an alert when they tried it at 7:57 a.m. The first official bulletin about the earthquake reached stations at 9:57 a.m., nearly three hours after the quake hit, according to Jeff Coelho, executive adviser to the mayor.

"It's a system that needs better utilization," Coelho said about the city's need to tap into the alert system. "Broadcasters have spent millions of dollars throughout the country to develop this type of notification system, and it should be used."

Maj. Gen. Robert Lee, state adjutant general and Civil Defense director, said individual counties have always had access to a switch hooked up for live feed to stations.

For example, Lee said Big Island Mayor Harry Kim was able to notify a local radio station shortly after the quake, at 7:20 a.m. The state's role, Lee said, is to back up all the counties "in areas where they may fall short of resources."

During a taping of the PBS Hawaii show "PBN Friday," Lee said part of the problem was that local broadcasters weren't staffed at the time of the early-morning earthquake and were broadcasting recorded programming.

Lee said Civil Defense is looking into being able to interrupt broadcasts with messages similar to the flood and storm watches that air during heavy rains.

"What we need to do on the notification side is a better way to ensure we can do the interruption," Lee said. "So when people are watching TV before the power goes out, we can have the trailer."

If there had been a threat of tsunami crashing into Hawaii's shores Sunday, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center would have sounded local civil defense sirens, Lee said. The sirens have backup power so they would have gone off even in a blackout, he added.

All communication issues raised during and after the earthquake will be discussed in a series of meetings starting Tuesday with a panel of officials from different counties, as well as representatives from wireless companies and the media, said Lenny Klompus, the governor's senior adviser.