Question: My smartphone came with an Emergency Alert app and while visiting Colorado I received an alert about a potential flash flood in the area I was in. Here on Oahu, there have been a couple of flash flood warnings and recently a tsunami but I received no alerts. Doesn’t Hawaii have the capability to broadcast emergency alerts in this manner? It seems like a really good idea.
Answer: The city has offered residents access to emergency email and text message alerts for more than two years (see is.gd/vOn3Mz). But you have to sign up for it.
Oahu residents can sign up for free at local.nixle.com/ city/hi/honolulu and have the option of getting alerts through email, text messages or both.
As of Wednesday, 15,671 Oahu residents had registered to receive the alerts and notifications, said John Cummings, spokesman for the city’s Department of Emergency Management.
That’s more than 1 percent of the Oahu population, he said.
“Of course we would love to have every Oahu cell- or smart-device user registered for Nixle,” Cummings said. “However, if we could see at least 30 percent of our Oahu residents signed up to receive our alerts through Nixle that would be a very good thing for all of us.”
If everyone receiving Nixle alerts uses social media networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, to alert family and friends, “then our reach is multiplied,” he said.
The city’s Nixle messages also post to the Emergency Management Department’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
Emergency management officials encourage residents to have multiple methods of receiving emergency information.
In addition to Nixle email and cellphone text messaging, Cummings pointed to Emergency Alert System (EAS) messages broadcast over TV and radio and alerts via a NOAA weather radio with Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME).
NOAA weather radios can be purchased at most department or electronics stores, as well as online, he said.
Question: I live in an apartment on Beretania Street between McCully and Punahou streets. Recently, needing to do a few errands, I drove down Beretania and ran into a road project near Pensacola Street, where an impatient driver cut me off and nearly hit my bumper. I turned right onto Ward Avenue, where I encountered a backup. At Kapiolani Boulevard, another project blocked the center lane of Ward Avenue. I finally reached my destination and paid my bill. I turned from Queen Street onto Kamakee Street and guess what, another road project at Kapiolani. I got onto King Street and drove to pick up my mail at the Moiliili post office. As I (drove) on King Street, you wouldn’t believe what I ran into again: another road project at University Avenue. Errands that should have taken about 30 minutes turned into a one-hour, 30-minute ordeal. Is there a website that lists ongoing roadwork so that I can plan my route more efficiently?
Answer: If it seems that every street in the urban core area is being dug up and blocked off, it’s because many are.
You can see the areas of work on the city’s website: www.honolulu.gov/government.
Under “news releases,” look for Weekly Road Work Report, as well as Traffic Advisories, such as for sewer work and archaeological surveys that require lane closures, and parade alerts.
On state roadways (freeways and major highways), go to the state Department of Transportation website: hawaii.gov/dot/highways/roadwork.
Mahalo
To Randy Kim for driving me to Hawaiian Airlines’ baggage terminal when my van stalled in the parking lot and to Byron for assisting us in jumping a dead battery on Oct. 9. What would our world be like without angels like you? — Carol & Shonn
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Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
