{"id":53544,"date":"2017-11-29T05:29:30","date_gmt":"2017-11-29T05:29:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/?p=53544"},"modified":"2017-11-29T05:29:30","modified_gmt":"2017-11-29T05:29:30","slug":"hawaii-brings-back-a-cold-war-era-nuclear-warning-system","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biphoo.com\/bipnews\/news\/hawaii-brings-back-a-cold-war-era-nuclear-warning-system.html","title":{"rendered":"Hawaii Brings Back a Cold War-Era Nuclear Warning System"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hawaii Brings Back a Cold War-Era Nuclear Warning System<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n

As tensions between the United States and North Korea continue to simmer, Hawaii is preparing to resume a statewide test on Friday of a Cold War-era early warning system designed to inform its residents of an impending nuclear attack.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Attack Warning Tone, described as a \u201cwailing tone,\u201d will be heard for about 50 seconds on the first business day of every month, beginning on Dec. 1. It will sound after the regular monthly test of the sirens that warn residents of hurricanes or tsunamis, the Emergency Management Agency said in a news release on Monday that was intended to update the population on what the agency is doing to \u201cprepare our state for a nuclear threat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Hawaii\u2019s announcement this week of the start of the regular testing of the siren is the latest step the state has taken to prepare its population of more than 1.4 million people for the possibility of a North Korean nuclear strike, even though authorities there say one is unlikely.<\/span><\/p>\n

It came before North Korea fired a ballistic missile at dawn on Wednesday, its latest action that raises the stakes in an increasingly tense standoff with the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

For several weeks, the authorities in Hawaii have been discussing their plans to sound the Attack Warning Tone. On Nov. 8, Hawaii\u2019s emergency management agency released a public service announcement featuring its administrator, Vern Miyagi, speaking on the importance of the tone while ukulele music played lightly in the background.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe attack warning signal advises everyone to take immediate shelter \u2014 get inside, stay inside, stay tuned,\u201d Mr. Miyagi said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The last time Hawaii residents heard the attack warning siren test was in the mid-1990s, after the waning of the Cold War.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe stopped using it in the mid-1990s after the Cold War ended in the 80s,\u201d said Richard Rapoza, the spokesman for the emergency management agency, in a telephone interview on Tuesday. \u201cAt that point there was no longer a need for it. Somebody finally decided we don\u2019t need this anymore. It was not really serving a purpose.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mr. Rapoza said state authorities thought a missile attack was \u201cextremely unlikely,\u201d but they were holding frequent town hall meetings to reacquaint people with the important role of the siren. \u201cIt is our job to prepare people for any kind of emergency,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo now because of the North Korea threat we are starting to use it again,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n

The siren, if used as an actual warning, would signal to people that they should immediately seek shelter, Toby Clairmont, the executive officer of the emergency agency, said in a report by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser earlier this month.<\/span><\/p>\n

In July, after North Korea tested an intercontinental ballistic missile that appeared capable of hitting America\u2019s two most western states \u2014 Alaska and Hawaii \u2014 Hawaii\u2019s emergency management authorities released guidelines on how to survive a nuclear detonation, offering advice to seek shelter in a blast-resistant structure within minutes.<\/span><\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s test of the siren in Hawaii also comes amid reports that North Korea has been conducting missile engine and fuel tests in recent weeks, with the goal of achieving nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missile capabilities as early as next year, South Korea\u2019s lead official on the North, Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon, said on Tuesday.<\/span><\/p>\n

North Korea claimed to have detonated a hydrogen bomb on Sept. 3, in its sixth and most powerful nuclear test yet.<\/span><\/p>\n

Source:-\u00a0https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/11\/28\/us\/hawaii-nuclear-korea.html<\/span><\/p>\n

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