Hawai'i terror-alert level remains at lower status

By Mike Leidemann
Advertiser Staff Writer

Blue, yellow or orange?

While the state's terror-alert level stayed blue yesterday, Gov. Linda Lingle said it might go to yellow, and airport and harbor officials already were acting like it's orange.

Meanwhile, thousands of Island residents and visitors went about their business and pleasure, trying to tuck the issue (and their worst fears) away in the back of their minds.

"If something's going to happen, it's going to happen," said Winston Hackett, a Kaka'ako warehouse worker who spent his lunch hour reading newspaper reports about what seems an inevitable invasion of Iraq. "Still, I can't see anyone not being a little worried."

The state will stay, for now, at the second-lowest blue alert level, even though President Bush has warned that the United States should expect a terrorist response in the event of military action in Iraq. The state's terror-alert level could rise to yellow if the nation goes to war, Lingle said yesterday.

At state airports, harbors and military bases, however, officials put extra security measures into practice in line with the increased federal alert level.

"At the airports and harbors, we follow the federal mandate, which is orange right now," said Rod Haraga, state transportation director.

The heightened security took a number of forms:

• At Pier 2, where 2,200-passenger Sun Princess cruise ship docked yesterday morning, vehicle access was limited, new barriers kept people and cars away from glass walls and identification checks were tightened.
• At Honolulu International Airport, vehicle searches at parking lots and random, roving checks of automobiles approaching terminals were reinstated, and security at gates and baggage check areas was increased. The state planned to add more uniformed and plainclothes sheriff's officers and private security guards inside and out of the airport terminal.
• In Honolulu Harbor, the Coast Guard added more sea and air patrols and stationed a ship at the harbor entrance to watch over all incoming traffic.
• And throughout Honolulu, city officials reviewed security measures everywhere from Honolulu Police Department headquarters to sewage treatment plants.

Even so, some residents and visitors wondered if that was enough, especially considering that Hawai'i was the only state in the nation that didn't raise its security level.

"Now is not the time to take chances. We should be at a higher alert status," said Jon Tsujimura, a computer worker for the American Heart Association.

Coast Guard Capt. Tim Skuby, captain of Hawai'i ports, said Coast Guard ships are escorting cruise ships and ferry boats, as well as providing closer scrutiny of shipments of hazardous cargo as part of the increased alert level.

The Coast Guard has seven ships based on O'ahu, two on Kaua'i, and one each on Maui and the Big Island, Skuby said. Cutters regularly patrol offshore, HH-65 helicopters and C-130 aircraft are patrolling the skies, and 41-foot and 47-foot boats from Honolulu watch the harbors.

"We also have 23-foot 'safeboats' patrolling the harbor waters as well," Skuby said. "We have patrols on the Neighbor Islands, but O'ahu, our population center, is our main concern right now."

Airport security also was being beefed up. Hawai'i National Guard troops may provide additional security at state airports, but when that could begin and which airports will be affected has not been determined, a guard spokesman said yesterday.

The added airport security measures were likely to increase processing time for departing passengers, said Sidney Hayakawa, federal security chief in Honolulu. "We're asking people to leave more time to get to their planes, and we're asking drivers to please slow down as they approach the airport," he said.

Honolulu officials take their safety cue from federal and state terror-alert levels, said city spokeswoman Carol Costa. "Pretty much, we're looking at it day to day," she said. "The last time we went to orange, the mayor called everybody together and warned them to be very, very careful checking everything from the water supply to sewer plants."

Advertiser staff writers Scott Ishikawa and Mike Gordon contributed to this report.