As officers evaluation the emergency response to the Lahaina fireplace and what might have been carried out in a different way, one query continues to pop up: Why weren’t there sirens?
Herman Andaya, who leads Maui’s Emergency Management Agency, addressed the problem throughout a Wednesday afternoon information convention that grew tense at instances as reporters asserted that the resolution to not use sirens might have led to lack of life.
“Do you regret not sounding the sirens?” requested a reporter with CBS News.
“I do not,” Andaya responded.
The island’s outside siren system was designed for tsunamis, not wildfires, he mentioned, and isn’t a part of the company’s commonplace response protocol.
“The public is trained to seek higher ground in the event that the siren has sounded,” he mentioned.
Instead, Andaya defined, the company used a number of different forms of emergency notifications to alert folks to the fireplace. Some of the methods used had been wi-fi emergency alerts, which ship textual content messages to residents, and the emergency alert system, which broadcasts emergency notifications through tv and radio. Other native alert methods, equivalent to MEMA alerts, have additionally been used previously.
“It is our practice to use the most effective means of conveying an emergency message to the public during a wildland fire,” Andaya mentioned.
Andaya additionally famous lots of the sirens are alongside the shoreline, not on the mountain facet of Lahaina, which is the place the fireplace ignited.
Hawaii Gov. Josh Green backed Andaya on the information convention, recounting his personal expertise when he got here to the state to apply drugs.
“When I first moved to Hawaii, people told me if you hear a siren, it’s a tsunami and go to high ground,” Green mentioned.
Andaya is dealing with criticism on subjects apart from the choice on sounding the sirens. Honolulu Civil Beat, a nonprofit information group, printed an article Wednesday calling out Andaya’s lack {of professional} expertise in emergency administration management previous to his choice to guide the EMA.
When a reporter talked about the article, Andaya defended his expertise, saying he’d gained experience throughout 11 years working because the Maui County mayor’s chief of workers and later because the deputy director of the county’s Department of Housing and Human Concerns. During that point, he mentioned he went by way of “numerous trainings” and infrequently reported to the emergency operations heart. He additionally needed to full a civil service examination and was vetted by emergency managers earlier than he was chosen for the function.
“So to say that I am not qualified I think is incorrect,” Andaya mentioned.
Andaya and different Hawaii officers have continued to work the emergency response within the aftermath of the Lahaina fireplace, which remained 85% contained Wednesday.
The loss of life toll from the fireplace rose to 110 folks as of Wednesday, with 38% of the realm searched, in accordance with authorities. The first group of names of the deceased was introduced Tuesday, and extra are set to be launched pending the notification of household. Search efforts have expanded, with 40 cadaver canine, and 225 extra disaster-relief personnel are set to reach on Maui.
With one of many two main highways into Lahaina reopened Wednesday, survivors have begun returning to their houses for the primary time for the reason that blaze swept by way of eight days in the past. Information about the right way to assist these affected by the fireplace could be discovered at MauiNuiStrong.data.
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