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By Alicia A. Degracia
August 22, 2023 (San Diego) -- With what happened in Maui, I wonder if San Diego can reinstate the alarm system they had back in the’40s,‘50s, ‘60s into the early ‘70s or so. That was an alarm that was installed on top of telephone poles. They were installed during World War II in case of an attack. These alarms would be tested once a month on the first Monday of the month at noon. It was just testing and people knew it. These could be solar-powered.
This could save a lot of lives, especially when people don’t have their phones on, or the power is off during an emergency, or worse yet, in the middle of the night. We can’t rely on power 100%.
Editor’s note: I strongly endorse this suggestion to bring back civil alert sirens. The town of Paradise, California is now installing emergency sirens to prevent a recurrence of the deadly fire there that killed 75 people, Associated Press (AP) reported last week. Maui ironically has sirens for tsunamis but authorities failed to activate them; doing so could have prevented tragic losses of life theer in what is now the most deadly wildfire in the U.S. While San Diego Sheriff’s new high-low sirens on patrol cars here are a good step and helpful in two recent wildfires, they are not enough. What if roads become impassable to their vehicles due to flooding, fire or earthquake? Sirens on poles would be loud enough to awaken people in an entire area. Phone alerts are great, but not everyone sleeps with their cell phone near their bed, plus cell phone towers and land lines often fail during emergencies when equipment is damaged by a disaster. Sirens are common in areas where tsunami warnings are likely. San Diego is in a region where wildfires and earthquakes are real risks, and with climate change, there could be a growing threat of flooding and extreme winds from tropical storms or even hurricanes in the future. A system to loudly alert and awaken many people at once is critically needed across San Diego County.
Alicia A. Degracia is an office administrator in San Diego’s Mission Valley.
Wildfire News | East County Magazine
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