Caribbean gets tsunami ready
Published:Tuesday | March 22, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Laura Redpath, Senior Gleaner Writer
Jamaica is one of 33 participating countries across the Caribbean region participating in a tsunami alert simulation tomorrow, using a 7.6 earthquake off the coast of the United States Virgin Islands as the premise for how the scenario will play out.
Caribe Wave 11 is the name of the exercise developed by Intergovernmental Coordination Group for Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions with other climate organisations. It will not only involve community action, but will be used as a test to see how well the Caribbean responds to tsunami alerts.
Following the issuing of bulletins from two tsunami warning centres - West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Centre, responsible for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands; and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre for the rest of the Caribbean - the participating countries will test how effective the warnings are, and how efficient the emergency management organisations are.
Ronald Jackson, director general of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), said Jamaica and other participants would treat the simulation as an orientation.
"We will be looking at early tsunami protocols," he told The Gleaner yesterday. "We still don't have the necessary interface to measure sea levels and tidal changes, but we can benefit from the warning to see what messages are received and to go through the steps."
The local organisations cooperating with the ODPEM are the Meteorological Service, Airports Authority of Jamaica, the Port Authority, the Jamaica Defence Force, the Tourism Ministry, the agriculture ministry's Fisheries Division, the Earthquake Unit, the National Works Agency, the Health Ministry, and the Jamaica Information Service.
"We'll also be working with the media and telecommunications providers," Jackson added, noting that there were financial challenges in "canvassing" the media with reminders about natural disasters.
Watch the signs
Jackson advised that in the event of a strong earthquake, persons should not wait for a tsunami warning before heading to higher ground. He also said they should look out for water receding from the coastline as this is a sign of an impending tsunami.
"You will only have 10, 15, or 20 minutes before a tsunami will make its way in," Jackson stressed.
According to information provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), 75 tsunamis have presented themselves in the Caribbean within the past 500 years. This figure is approximately 10 per cent of all tsunamis in the world during that period of time.
Growth in the population and the number of tourists along coastlines are cited by the NOAA as reasons for the region's increased vulnerability.
"The earthquake and tsunami that have devastated Japan have shown how essential alert systems are," said Irina Bokova, director-general of UNESCO. "In this context, the development of a coordinated system in the Caribbean is more relevant than ever, enabling coastal countries to prepare in the event of such a disaster, and to save human lives."