A new inanimate but readily vocal sentry will soon add to Oak Harbor’s skyline, waiting patiently to alert residents of imminent danger.

The county recently received a matching grant to help purchase one All-Hazard Alert Broadcasting system, or AHAB, to be mounted in Oak Harbor.

An AHAB device is a high-volume warning siren with added features, including self-sufficient power, flashing lights and the capability to broadcast public address announcements.

“It’s basically a series of omni-directional speakers that sit on a pole,” said David L. Hollett, Island County Department of Emergency Management deputy director.

AHABs have already been installed in coastal regions in the Pacific Northwest and Oregon. Island County has waited patiently until it recently became a priority.

“We’ve been working on getting these in the Puget Sound area for about five or six years,” Hollett said. “The state has been looking at where the biggest threats are. We finally rose to the top of their priority list.”

Through the grant, the county will only be responsible for picking up $15,000 of the $50,000 needed to purchase the piece of equipment. The AHAB will have to be purchased and installed by March 30. Hollett said the county is still deciding on the perfect location in Oak Harbor, although personnel are eyeing the Beeksma Drive and City Hall areas.

“We’ve determined that that’s where we can hit the largest amount of the population with this one system,” Hollett said, adding that 1,599 people reside in the proposed area. “It’s going to be in Oak Harbor someplace, either on county or city property. The coverage is dependent on the topography of where it’s at. The buildings and the trees restrict it. We want maximum coverage.”

The AHAB can be mounted on an existing telephone pole, he added. With no obstructions, the device’s warning can be heard for a three-square mile radius. If the weather conditions were right and the AHAB was positioned near Windjammer Park, the siren could conceivably be heard in Coupeville, as water effectively propagates sound.

“We may find out we get a little more coverage than we thought,” Hollett said.

The equipment is powered by four, deep-cell batteries. The amount of power required to charge the batteries is minimal, merely a trickle, the deputy director said.

“If the power is interrupted, then the batteries are charged by solar energy,” Hollett said.

Once installed and powered, the county will be responsible for replacing the batteries every eight years at $100 per battery. The state will take care of the rest.

“They’ll take care of the maintenance,” Hollett said. “It’s a great deal.”

In addition to the resounding alarm, the AHAB can broadcast verbal warnings or messages via radio. The equipment can be activated locally or by the state. The Alaska Tsunami Warning Center also has the authority to sound the alarm.

If the system had been in place last year, Hollett said, a tsunami warning that was issued in the early morning for the Washington Coast would have made the AHAB start chirping.

“We would have heard it, even though it only turned out to be a two or three-inch wave when it finally got here,” he said.

The county will not stop at just one AHAB. Hollett said the state is looking for additional cost-sharing grants to help finance more of the systems.

“This is the first of a number of these we want to get and we’re pumped up about it,” he said. “I’d love to have at least four more, bare minimum. The AHABs are really neat, but really expensive.”