[EAS] perhaps an RFP for alarm clocks?

[Adrienne Abbott]

I don't have any special insight into Hawai'i EMA or the sleeping activities
of their staff, but I can tell you, as part owner of a new station on Kauai,
that they have a unique approach to EAS. Hawai'i EMA added a provision to
the state EAS plan in 2006, requiring the National Weather Service to send a
statewide EAS CEM activation after any earthquake over magnitude 5.0 to tell
people that there was no tsunami threat from the quake, when the Pacific
Tsunami Warning Center said there was no tsunami threat. With the Kilauea
volcano regularly generating burps--internal magma explosions--in the
Magnitude 5 range, Hawaii NWS was sending those messages almost daily,
despite messages from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center that there was no
tsunami threat. 

Keep in mind, these activations were coming from NWS through NOAA Weather
Radio, so the SAME text message consisted of Alert Translation: A CIVIL
AUTHORITY HAS ISSUED A CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES/AREAS: Honolulu; Hawaii; Kauai; Maui; Hawaii; Kauai; Maui; Hawaii;
Kauai; Maui; Hawaii; Honolulu; Maui; Honolulu; Maui; Honolulu; Maui;
Honolulu; Maui; Maui; Maui, HI; AT 12:03 PM ON JUN 15, 2018 EFFECTIVE UNTIL
2:03 PM. Not exactly helpful information to those who missed the audio
message, and not exactly compliant with the EAS rules which require that
activations be sent only when there is an actual emergency. 

Hawai'i EMA says that there was a reason why they added this policy to the
state EAS plan. As it was explained to me, several years ago, after another
bout of volcanic activity on another island, the public was so worried about
the possibility of a tsunami, the Emergency Management office was flooded
with calls from people worried about tsunamis after every temblor. Emergency
Management officials figured that an EAS activation was the best way to tell
the public that there was no tsunami threat and the National Weather Service
was the best agency to issue these no-tsunami-threat activations, using the
CEM Event Code, to the entire state. 

After a week or so of the recent state-wide, no-tsunami-threat CEM's, some
stations removed the CEM Event Code from the Auto Forward function in their
EAS equipment. Ultimately, the State asked NWS to stop issuing these
activations. Kilauea is still rearranging herself but the Pacific Tsunami
Warning Center has yet to issue a tsunami warning for any of her activities.
The Hawai'i Broadcasters Association is rewriting the state EAS plan and
they hope to come up with a better solution to the no-tsunami-threat message
than a state-wide EAS activation. 
Adrienne

Adrienne Abbott
Nevada EAS Chair

-----Original Message-----
From: EAS <eas-bounces at radiolists.net> On Behalf Of David Turnmire

I have no idea what Hawaii EMA is like.  In my state, the civil authorities