10-31-2012, 08:00 AM
Kapohocat has a good point, to which I would add that although it would be nice to have a siren on Kaloli Point, sirens are becoming of secondary or even tertiary importance with changes in technology. Both my smartphone and my good old fashioned not-so-bright phone (the one that has NEVER tried to drag me into the Matrix and shoot me with slow moving bullets) came through for me.
As mentioned, I was alerted first through Hawaii County Civil Defense on my smartphone and almost simultaneously by a Facebook friend via a push notification on the same phone. I then hopped onto the Pacific Tsunami Center and saw that it was true. Then a very nice friend (you know who you are!) called to check on me (mahalo!). And then I got another call or two, and shortly thereafter there was a little commotion in what is otherwise a very quiet neighborhood, including neighbors being unusually active, a helicopter raking the coastline with a big, bright, blinking light, and later, a squad car.
I felt pretty well notified. And, as Kapohocat mentioned, the siren came later and, news reports indicate, proved to be the weakest link in the notification system. I include friends and neighbors alerting friends and neighbors as part of that system. In retrospect, it might have been good to send out an e-mail message via our local neighborhood watch organization, PAKA (an organization which I named and which I started by the way, while I was still on the mainland, with a wonderful former neighbor, JoAnne, spearheading the local efforts). PAKA meanas peace, tranquility (or tobacco, which to some brings peace I guess. : )).
That evening really underscored for me the importance of friends and good neighbors. As I approach the end of my first year on the island, I am going to work on forging those friendships, on being nice and on being the kind of person people wish to be around, and on being a good neighbor.
I will do that in between times when I am not acting like an ungifted rock star who is doing everything possible to get thrown out of the hotel. : )
As mentioned, I was alerted first through Hawaii County Civil Defense on my smartphone and almost simultaneously by a Facebook friend via a push notification on the same phone. I then hopped onto the Pacific Tsunami Center and saw that it was true. Then a very nice friend (you know who you are!) called to check on me (mahalo!). And then I got another call or two, and shortly thereafter there was a little commotion in what is otherwise a very quiet neighborhood, including neighbors being unusually active, a helicopter raking the coastline with a big, bright, blinking light, and later, a squad car.
I felt pretty well notified. And, as Kapohocat mentioned, the siren came later and, news reports indicate, proved to be the weakest link in the notification system. I include friends and neighbors alerting friends and neighbors as part of that system. In retrospect, it might have been good to send out an e-mail message via our local neighborhood watch organization, PAKA (an organization which I named and which I started by the way, while I was still on the mainland, with a wonderful former neighbor, JoAnne, spearheading the local efforts). PAKA meanas peace, tranquility (or tobacco, which to some brings peace I guess. : )).
That evening really underscored for me the importance of friends and good neighbors. As I approach the end of my first year on the island, I am going to work on forging those friendships, on being nice and on being the kind of person people wish to be around, and on being a good neighbor.
I will do that in between times when I am not acting like an ungifted rock star who is doing everything possible to get thrown out of the hotel. : )