Sirens are going to become more reliable. A statewide siren modernization project is underway.

The current siren systems need to be changed, or they will be in violation of the Federal Communications Commission narrowband initiative. The state and counties said these sirens are crucial to the safety of residents.

Peter Hirai, with the Department of Emergency Management said, "Our sirens are basically used to warn the public anytime there's a pending disaster, or any on set of a sudden disaster."

More than 150 of Oahu's sirens need to be modernized by the end of this year to keep up with FCC standards. One of the main reasons for the changes is to make the sirens more reliable.

Before there was only one system to activate the sirens. So they are installing a satellite and cellular activation system to back up each other just in case one fails.

"A lot of times there will be an emergency and the sirens get sounded and someone calls in the sirens didn't sound the sirens didn't sound what's happening what's happening," said George Burnett with Hawaii State Civil Defense.

Burnett also said the sirens might be malfunctioning because they are old. "They are literally falling off the poles. The poles are in some cases termite eaten and it's a major problem," said Burnett.

Harai said the problem should most likely go away with the new system. There will be two way communications for troubleshooting, and they will be standardizing the sirens statewide.

Instead of having to turn all the sirens on at the same time operators can choose to turn on just one siren.