Kona News- Vandalism silences siren in Kealakehe

[reception73]

http://www.bigislandchronicle.com/?p=3119

Hawaii County Civil Defense officials have reported that the Kealakehe tsunami alert siren was vandalized sometime following the March 2, 2009 test of the siren.

Personnel at nearby Kealakehe Elementary School noticed that a cable to the siren had been cut and reported it to Civil Defense officials on March 13, 2009.

?Such actions cripple our ability to transmit emergency notifications,? said County Civil Defense Administrator Quince Mento.

County radio technicians are expected to have the siren operating again in time for the monthly test of the Civil Defense warning system on April 1, 2009. About 40 feet of cable worth approximately $150 needs to be replaced using a bucket truck, a driver and two radio technicians.

A police report was filed and anyone with information about the vandalism is encouraged to report it to Hawaii County police.

[Robert Gift]

Morons.

I saw a photo of an SD-10 with a bullet hole in its cowling.
I recall that if one lined up the holes, it would indicate the house from which the shot was fired.

[JasonC]

At least scrap metal theft has basically ceased to exist now.

[Tannre]

At least scrap metal theft has basically ceased to exist now.

If I remember right there was some huge thing about scrap metal theft in Tennessee a few months back, where the thieves I guess stole the control boxes or something off of a Thunderbolt...

Vandalism and theft of sirens is basically pointless... A stolen car is more scrap metal, plus a siren saves lives, so the people who are warned by it are in danger then.

I wonder if the thieves could be charged with manslaughter if a tornado killed somebody, and the victim was killed due to a failure to be warned by the siren...

[JasonC]

At least scrap metal theft has basically ceased to exist now.

If I remember right there was some huge thing about scrap metal theft in Tennessee a few months back, where the thieves I guess stole the control boxes or something off of a Thunderbolt...

Vandalism and theft of sirens is basically pointless... A stolen car is more scrap metal, plus a siren saves lives, so the people who are warned by it are in danger then.

I wonder if the thieves could be charged with manslaughter if a tornado killed somebody, and the victim was killed due to a failure to be warned by the siren...

Scrap metal is worth next to nothing now due to the economy. (me and my brother scrapped nearly a 1000lbs of metal including aluminum and electric motors, and only got $50)

[Tannre]

Scrap metal is worth next to nothing now due to the economy. (me and my brother scrapped nearly a 1000lbs of metal including aluminum and electric motors, and only got $50)

Wow... That's pretty sad to see what the economy is going to. Recessions are always rough times but that just enables more crimes such as theft, and more illegally profitable ways.

[Adam Pollak]

He was actually implying that since the price of scrap metal has dropped so much, copper in particular compared to a year ago (though it is slowly on the rise again), that the number of metal thefts has decreased. For a while, copper thefts were plaguing siren systems, especially in Jackson, MS.

[Hacksaw]

I remember when scrap iron was $10 a ton in 1980.

It's not just sirens getting robbed of metals. There's even been thefts at live electric substations, with some thiefs being killed on the spot.

[Robert Gift]

In Panama, the railroad crossing signals did not operate because someone had taken the CU wires.

If railroad track rail is ever worth anything, I could foresee sections of track rail missing.
I rode on the front of an engine and could see many rails were loose.
Engineer had me flag grade crossings.

It appears that their track gauge is 5 feet!

A plumber installed copper pipes in a house in Denver.
Some scum cut all of the copper out.
Many thou$and$ in damage to get $50 worth of copper.

[E712]

If railroad track rail is ever worth anything, I could foresee sections of track rail missing.
I rode on the front of an engine and could see many rails were loose.
Engineer had me flag grade crossings.

It appears that their track gauge is 5 feet!

A lot of metal thieves like to take the rail spikes and the rail joints