PAGO PAGO, American Samoa  — The American Samoa Department of Homeland Security (ASDHS) has announced that representatives from American Signal Corporation (ASC) are on island to conduct maintenance work on our emergency alert siren system.

The technicians arrived Sunday night and in addition to conducting maintenance and service checks on the entire system, Mark Ferguson and John Beimborn, Jr will also be checking the Comulert System which activates the sirens.  This maintenance visit is part of Maintenance Contract agreement between ASDHS and ASC when the siren system project was awarded.

The territory’s primary activation point is at the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) located at Tafuna sub-station, and the secondary, or alternate location is at the Department of Public Safety Headquarters 911 Dispatch Center in Fagatogo. The alternate activation site serves as a back-up or redundant activation point in the event that the primary site in Tafuna is compromised and activation of the sirens from the EOC is not possible.

The public is advised that part of the maintenance work being conducted requires sound tests at each siren location.  These sound tests will be nominal and not at full volume capacity and the public should not be alarmed.

American Samoa’s territory-wide siren system was installed last year and commissioned on the second anniversary of the September 29, 2009 tsunami.  It includes 48 sirens which are situated strategically throughout the islands.  However, two of the sirens, on Ofu and Aunu’u, have been delayed due to land disputes.  They are expected to be installed soon, pending surface transportation arrangements.

(Source: ASDHS media release)