Hawaii has a robust emergency siren warning system. It sat silent during the deadly wildfires::Some Maui residents are questioning the effectiveness of the emergency warning system employed as the wildfires spread rapidly across Lahaina and other parts on Tuesday. Hawaii’s attorney general is leading a review of the emergency response.

  • Retiring@lemmy.ml
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    1 year ago

    How is a system with 400 alarms the largest in the world? I couldn’t find the numbers for Germany but in Austria there are over 8000 sirens. Does anyone know more about that?

    • Kecessa@sh.itjust.works
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      1 year ago

      It’s the largest in the USA, therefore it’s the largest in the world! Americans can’t point their country on a map, you think they know what Germany and Austria are?

      • Retrograde@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Bashing Americans is all well and good but I’m pretty sure it’s a specific type of siren system they’re talking about and not necessarily comparable to old war/air raid sirens.

    • Retiring@lemmy.ml
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      1 year ago

      I did some research: It seems Hawaii boasts they hve the largest network of siren Alarms in the world. That cannot be true, even if you consider sirens per area. Hawaii has about one siren per 70(!!) square kilometer. Austria has about one siren per 10 square kilometer. European countries have extensive networks of warning sirens. Other examples are Switzerland with a siren per 9.8 sqkm (8200 total) and the Netherlands with one siren per 10.9 sqkm (3800 in total). I really don’t know which numbers would suggest that Hawaii has the largest system of Sirens in the world. If anything, the number of sirens seems excessively small. Also, for any Americans wondering: Air raid sirens in European countries trigger for natural disaster and other dangers to citizens too (like large fires)

    • Fester@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      The claim in the article has a link to the state’s site, where it actually says:

      Hawaiʻi has the largest single integrated Outdoor Siren Warning System for Public Safety in the world.

      “Single integrated” is probably key here.

      • Retiring@lemmy.ml
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        1 year ago

        What does that even mean? I read the source, too, but I honestly don’t understand this sentence.

    • Squeak@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Maybe it’s referring to an early warning system specifically for fires?