The Turks and Caicos Islands (TCI) will join other localities in the Caribbean as a participant in a Regional Tsunami Response exercise on Wednesday 25th March 2015.
Since 2011, in an effort to enhance the capacity for tsunami response, Department of Disaster Management & Emergencies (DDME) has embarked on proactive approaches towards strengthening Earthquake and Tsunami awareness and preparedness in the TCI. As such, TCI will once again participate in the Joint CARIBE WAVE and LANTEX Exercise on 25 March, 2015.
This two-day exercise will provide:
Allow for multi-stakeholder feedback on Draft National Tsunami Plan
An introductory course to earthquakes and tsunamis
Allow persons to practice problem solving and coordination of services during a tsunami event.
Test Emergency Communication Plans and Systems
Validate the organizational decision making process about Public Warnings and Evacuation procedures
“Our goal this year is for the exercise to provide an opportunity for Emergency Management Organisations to exercise their operational lines of communications, review their response procedures and promote more coordinated tsunami response actions.” said Rikardia Pardo, Hazard Mitigation Officer, DDME. “Regular exercising of Response Plans is critical to maintaining readiness for an emergency; this is particularly true for tsunamis, which are infrequent, but high impact events.”
As part of this exercise, the DDME will conduct a Tsunami Orientation Exercise on Tuesday and Wednesday, 24-25 March, 2015 at the DDME-PLS Office starting at 8:30am. The principal participants expected to be a part of this exercise are the National Tsunami Focal Point (911), First Responders – (Fire, Police, Emergency Management Services), the National Operations Group, and other key stakeholders with Disaster Management Responsibilities. These persons will receive alert messages using various mediums as part of the regional exercise.
During the simulation exercise all messages being relayed will include ‘EXERCISE EXERCISE’. Should a real event occur, the exercise will be terminated immediately.
Persons/Agencies expected to respond to a tsunami event are encouraged to register to receive alert messages during the exercise at www.caribewave.info.
