Mililani Senators Schedule Town Hall Forum
Emergency Preparedness – Are You Ready?
WHO: Sen. Michelle Kidani, Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz
WHAT: Town Hall Forum
WHERE: Mililani Middle School cafeteria
95-1140 Lehiwa Drive
WHEN: Tuesday, February 27, 2018
7:00 p.m.
Central Oahu residents are invited to a town hall forum to hear from leaders of the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) and the Hawai‘i Department of Education (DOE) as a follow-up to the missile alert transmitted in error to nearly everyone in Hawai‘i on January 13.
The meeting is being sponsored by Mililani Senators Michelle Kidani and Donovan M. Dela Cruz. It is scheduled for Tuesday, February 27, at the Mililani Middle School cafeteriabeginning at 7:00 p.m.
Hawai‘i residents and visitors were subjected to more than a half-hour of totally unnecessary terror and unspeakable anxiety through a series of avoidable errors using our alert system,” said Senator Kidani. “While it is hard to admit that anything good came out of the false alarm, the incident brought home most vividly that there are things we can do to prepare for these kinds of events. Now that alert system deficiencies have been identified and are being remedied, our forum this month will be an opportunity for residents to focus on emergency preparedness.”
The forum will include presentations from HI-EMA and the DOE. Both agencies will be available to answer any questions.
“The false alarm really amplified how unprepared we were as a State,” said Senator Donovan M. Dela Cruz. “I want to ensure that the community has adequate information so they are prepared and safe in the event of a real missile alert.”
Senators Kidani and Dela Cruz will also discuss their proposed legislative remedies to improve the warning system, including specific proposals to mandate that alerts for incidents such as missile attacks should be the responsibility of the U.S. Departments of Defense and Homeland Security rather than a State of Hawai‘i agency.
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