After only two of the island’s 24 emergency sirens worked during testing this week, village mayors raised concerns about whether the island is sufficiently prepared for a disaster.
During a Mayor’s Council of Guam meeting Wednesday, Ordot Chalan-Pago Mayor Wayne San Nicolas Santos said mayors were asked to let Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense know if the sirens in their villages were working after Tuesday’s test.
“What's really, really concerning right now is that a lot of us yesterday reported that our sirens did not go off,” Santos said. “It only tells me that as an island, we are not prepared. We are definitely not prepared.”
Homeland Security spokeswoman Jenna Blas confirmed Wednesday that only two of the 24 all-hazard alert sirens were operational. She said the problem has been raised with the vendor, and repairs are expected to be completed by the end of the week.
Santos also said there was confusion during last week’s tsunami advisory, with residents not sure what to do or where to go.
“A lot of people do not know when to evacuate, until those alerts went saying, ‘stay in place, don't do anything, don't panic.’ But a lot of our residents did panic,” he said.
Mayors’ Council of Guam President Jesse Alig, who is the mayor of Piti, said emergency training will be provided for mayors. He said misinformation during disasters has been a problem in the past, especially when false information is spread on social media.
“Nimitz Hill was full of people,” Alig said. “There was no need for anyone to be up there because the warning was not issued. It was only an advisory. Everyone was like the mayor said, in a panic. And you’re right, we weren’t prepared.”
Alig said as community leaders, the mayors need to be ready in case the sirens don’t go off in a real emergency.
He said the council hopes to have training in the next month.
