The exercise will simulate a major earthquake and tsunami generated 25 miles Southeast of Puerto Rico and 55 miles Southeast of San Juan at 9.00am Atlantic Standard Time.
The international exercise is the first of its kind in the Caribbean region. The drill will require implementation of local tsunami response plans, according to a statement from the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Weather Service and West Coast/Alaska Tsunami Warning Center are coordinating the drill, which includes the Caribbean region.
Test tsunami warnings will go out on U.S. Virgin Island TV and radio stations March 23 as part of an annual worldwide U.S. Emergency Alert System (EAS) readiness drill. The drill was planned long before the earthquake and tsunami catastrophe unfolding in Japan.
In the territory, U.S. Virgin Islands Management Organization, the Office of the Governor and the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System program are working together with local radio and TV broadcasters and Innovative Cable to conduct a demonstration of the Territory's Emergency Alert System for March 23.
It will be up to each Caribbean island to decide what role they will play in the tsunami drill next week Wednesday. Having an early warning system in place is key to saving lives, however there are many other factors that play a role.
With the 2011 hurricane season 10-weeks away, last Friday the 33rd Session of the Region IV Hurricane Committee hosted by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in association with the Cayman Islands National Weather Service, and Ministry of District Administration, Works, Lands and Agriculture, took place bringing together more than 70 delegates from 26 countries in North, South and Central America as well as the Caribbean, including representatives from the National Hurricane Centre in Miami.
The purpose of the annual event was to enable regional experts to review collective early warning technical and operational plans prior to the start of the Atlantic hurricane season. The agenda also included selecting new hurricane names and retiring some others.
For the Caribbean, the tsunami drill and hurricane conference are two events that has and will allow disaster management planners to review current preparedness plans and for those who do not have any plans in place where tsunami's are concerned, the current unfolding tsunami disaster will without a doubt provide a wealth of information with respect to what more if anything else further could have been done.
The devastation in Japan is truly of colossal proportions. The cornerstone of legislation on disaster risk reduction dates as far back to 1961. Lessons learned from the Kobe earthquake in 1995 prompted enhancements to Japan's disaster risk reduction legislation and government policy. In recent years, particular priority has been accorded to countermeasures for large-scale earthquake disasters.
For the Caribbean region and in particular country Sint Maarten, we need to pay more attention to disaster reduction. This message is further re-enforced by current events unfolding in Japan.
Roddy Heyliger
