Letter: Full volume tsunami siren test this week

San Mateo County will test the Princeton, El Granada and Pacifica tsunami warning sirens on Wednesday, September 3 at 10:00 a.m.  This test is different than our routine monthly tests in that it will be the first time the sirens have been tested at full volume and for a one minute duration. The sirens should be heard  by anyone outdoors throughout lower El Granada including Surfers’ Beach, all of Princeton, as well as Rockaway Beach and the Sharp Park area of Pacifica.  

We normally test the sirens monthly at the same time, but at less than half volume and only for 15 seconds.  This will probable be the only full volume test this year.  We picked September since it is National Disaster Preparedness Month.  More info on that can be found at www.Ready.gov.  

If the sirens sound anytime other than the routine monthly test on the first Wednesday of each month at 10:00 a.m., people should leave the beach area and tune their radio or television to the Emergency Alert Station ( such as KCBS 740 am) for official instructions.  In case of a tsunami approaching from a distance location, the sirens could sound several hours before the tsunami arrives.  The purpose of the sirens is to capture the attention of people that are outside and who have not been notified of the potential danger by radio or other means.

In other tsunami siren news, a third tsunami siren for the City of Pacifica has been approved and will be installed at the LInda Mar Beach in the next few weeks.  Two additional sirens have been approved by San Mateo County Planning Commission with one schedule for Moss Beach, above the Fitzgerald Marine Reserve, and the other for the town of Pescadero.  (We anticipate the siren in Pescadero will be used more frequently for flood emergencies, rather than tsunamis).  The Half Moon Bay Planning Commission finally approved tsunami sirens for the Miramar area and Half Moon Bay north of Kelly Avenue.  Significant testing restrictions were placed on the latter siren, to be located at the sewer treatment plant at 1000 North Cabrillo Highway,  to keep from impacting wildlife.  

Installation of all sirens is anticipated by the end of the year.  Sirens are being provided by Hormann America of Martinez, CA, a national public warning contractor.  Funding for purchase, installation and maintenance has been acquired by the Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services through Homeland Security/Emergency Preparedness grants.

Jim Asche
Sheriff’s Office of Emergency Services.