Kingdom of Netherlands supports community preparedness and tsunami awareness in the Caribbean

They say it takes a village to raise a child, but what does it take to raise a village into a tsunami-ready community? In 2017, the Caribbean Tsunami Information Centre (CTIC) of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) made considerable progress to improve early warning systems, public awareness and preparedness in the region thanks to a €80,000 contribution from the Kingdom of Netherlands.

Located in Barbados, CTIC is an organ of the UNESCO/IOC-led Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE EWS), with the mission to mitigate the impact of tsunamis and coastal hazards in the region through tsunami awareness, training and educational activities.

The funding contributed mainly to the organization of the Caribbean Safe School Ministerial Forum (3-4 April 2017, Antigua and Barbuda) and the Regional Training Workshop on Pacific Tsunami Warning Center Enhanced Tsunami Products for ICG/CARIBE EWS (31 October-2 November 2017, Cartagena, Colombia).

To support the development of an enhanced collaborative and coordinated approach around school safety among the region’s education sector, the Ministerial Forum launched the Caribbean Safe School Initiative (CSSI). This Initiative will strengthen the framework put forward by UNISDR’s Worldwide Initiative for Safe Schools and more globally contribute to the Samoa Action Plan for SIDS, the Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

A Regional Road Map for School Safety is also under development to outline the actions required to successfully create an enabling environment and safe learning facilities, as well as implement school disaster management and risk reduction education.

On a more technical level, the Regional Training Workshop sought to improve tsunami preparedness and the capacity of tsunami warning focal points, national tsunami warning centres and tsunami emergency responders to effectively receive, analyse and take appropriate action in response to tsunami forecast products for the Caribbean and its adjacent regions. The event covered topics such as warning messages and alerting, evacuation concepts and planning, awareness strategies and lessons learned from the extremely active 2017 hurricane season. Over 84% of respondents found the training and resource materials to be very effective.

The contribution was also used to advance the development of the CTIC website, which aims to be a regionally focused digital platform for accessing CTIC resources and tsunami and other coastal hazards information, and the planning of the annual CARIBE WAVE exercise for 2018, which saw the participation of at least 383,510 people. This regional exercise provides an opportunity for national disaster management officials and hundreds of thousands of the region’s population to test their national plans and procedures. The 2017 exercise is the largest international tsunami exercise to date, with over 740,000 participants from 32 nations and 15 territories.

Furthermore, the funding from the Kingdom of Netherlands helped strengthen community preparedness and awareness through CTIC’s support to the implementation and promotion of the UNESCO/IOC Tsunami Ready Programme, a performance-based community recognition programme, in Omoa, Honduras; St. Patrick’s, Grenada; and Fort-Liberté, Haiti.

Response times key to reducing tsunami deaths

Speaking at the Symposium on Advances in Tsunami Warning to Enhance Community Responses, François Schindelé, from the French National Tsunami Center (CENALT) said: “Since the creation of the Indian Ocean Tsunami Early Warning in 2005, considerable progress has been made in terms of tsunami detection and monitoring technologies, awareness and education. But much more needs to be done to reduce the time response and the accuracy of messages delivered to the civil protection agencies and emergency responders. We also need to better predict the height of tsunami waves, their run up and how far inland they would flood to save more lives in the future.”

The symposium was hosted by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) to discuss the latest developments in tsunami early warning research and technologies to better protect millions of people at risk of tsunamis.

Since the year 2000, more than 11 million people have been affected by tsunamis and more than 250,000 persons lost their lives.

Over 100 seismologists, researchers, representatives of civilian protection authorities, operational centres, national monitoring and prevention services assessed the successes and limitations of current warning systems in past tsunamis, the role of traditional media and social media in alerting the public and what information is needed for effective community response.

Participants highlighted the need for science to work more closely with emergency responders and policy makers, and how education and public awareness are essential to better protect coastal communities, noting that many communities will be at even greater risk of tsunami and floods with sea-level rise.

Vladimir Ryabinin, IOC Executive Secretary, opened the symposium and referenced the global plan for reducing disaster losses, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, adopted three years ago by UN member States.

“We still have a long way to go before achieving Target G of the Sendai Framework, which aims at substantially increasing the availability of multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk reduction policies by 2030, but we are moving ahead and making considerable progresses,” said Mr. Ryabinin.

He highlighted the importance of rethinking early warning systems in the lead up to the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development (2021-2030).

“We often congratulate ourselves on saving lives which is deeply important, but saving infrastructure and reducing economic losses is much more complicated. Here is where coastal zone management can help, allowing us to effectively determine risk zones and come up with preventive development plans,” said Mr. Ryabinin.

Compared to 2004, when there was only one Early warning System in place in the Pacific (Hawaii), the planet is safer. The Global Early Warning System now comprises four major Early Warning Systems in the Pacific Ocean (1965), Indian Ocean (2005), the Caribbean Sea and adjacent regions (2006), and the Mediterranean and Northeastern Atlantic (2012), covering all regions of the world.

These systems have been key to reducing loss of life from tsunamis in recent years.

“No matter if you have the best advanced technologies, people need to trust the system and understand locally what to do to save their lives,” said Laura Kong, Director of the UNESCO-IOC International Tsunami Information Center, based in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Participants recognized the need for even more timely and accurate tsunami warnings than currently available and for adequate procedures to enable more effective and inclusive community and local responses to tsunami threats. Scientists also agreed that more funds and research should be invested in areas that are not yet so developed.

“At the moment, we are well prepared to alert on tsunami triggered by an earthquake magnitude 8 or more, but we do require more research and science for tsunamis triggered by earthquake magnitudes between 6 to 8, which are more frequent and can have great negative impacts on local communities,” added François Schindelé.

The tsunami early warning community expressed hopes that the UN Decade of Ocean Science could act as a global hub for rallying national commitments and related investments to fill such technical gaps and improve decision-making.

“When it comes to tsunami warnings,” added Rick Bailey, former Chair of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System, “we’re talking about a lot of decisions to take with very little information.”

The UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development is a 10-year global initiative proclaimed by the UN General Assembly for the years 2021-2030. It seeks to ensure scientific knowledge and technology can assist countries in achieving international agreements such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Management and more broadly the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

World Tsunami Awareness Day, organized by UNISDR, will be celebrated for the third year on November 5.

Source: UNISDR // More needs to be done to reduce response times to tsunami alerts and to improve wave height measurement if progress is to be made on reducing mortality from tsunamis, an international gathering of experts declared this week.

Fourteenth Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami Early Warning and Mitigation System in the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and Connected Seas (ICG/NEAMTWS-XIV): Third Successful Tsunami Exercise

The Fourteenth Session of the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System in the North-eastern Atlantic, the Mediterranean and connected seas (ICG/NEAMTWS) was held from 21–23 November 2017, Lisbon, Portugal and hosted by the Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA).

Participants reviewed the progress made in the implementation of the NEAMTWS. The Group discussed the preliminary evaluation of the NEAMWave17 tsunami exercise (31 October - 3 November 2017) that tested the system in both its up-stream and down-stream elements. Initial evaluation indicated that NEAMWave 17 had been very useful and yielded satisfactory performance. NEAMWave17 saw a significant increase in media interest in the exercise. A more extensive exercise report will be available in the 1^st quarter of 2018. Member States informed about several awareness raising efforts on tsunami hazards and preparedness that were contributions to World Tsunami Awareness Day (5 November 2017).

 Inauguration of the Portuguese National Tsunami Warning Center, Source: Thorkild Aarup, IOC/UNESCO

Portugal informed that its National Tsunami Warning Center is now formally opened and hosted at the Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA). The Center has informed IOC that it is ready to serve as a Candidate Tsunami Service (CTSP) Provider for the NEAM region. The Portuguese National Tsunami Warning Center was formally inaugurated on Saturday 25 November 2017 by HE Eduardo Cabrita (Minister for Minister of Internal Administration) and HE Ana Paula Vitorino (Minister of Sea).

The ICG discussed evaluation and lessons learned from recent tsunami events in the NEAM region (e.g. Aegean Sea (12 June and 21 July 2017)).

The ICG was also informed of KOERI’s intention to disseminate, on a trial basis for one year, enhanced products (travel time, Tsunami Forecast Point, alert levels, and distance based alert levels maps) to its subscribers stating 1 January 2018. The test will be carried out in cooperation with the Task Team on Operations and Working Group 4 on Public Awareness, Preparedness and Mitigation.

A significant part of the Session focused on exploring community preparedness and recognition programs, such as Tsunami Ready, and examining possible adaptation for the NEAM region.

Dr Ahmet Yalciner (left) and incoming chair of ICG/NEAMTWS Dr. Gerassimos Papadoupolos (right)
Source: Denis Chang Seng, IOC/UNESCO

Finally, new officers of ICG/NEAMTWS were elected – Dr. Gerassimos Papadoupolos (Greece) as chair. Dr Anna von Gyldenfeldt (Germany) and Dr Stefano Lorito (Italy) were re-elected as vice chairs. Professor Ahmet Yalciner was thanked and congratulated for his excellent leadership during his tenure as chair (2013-2017). A number of people were also elected for chair and co-chairs of the Working Groups and Task Teams (see NEAMTWS web-page).

The Fourteenth Session of ICG/NEAMTWS was attended by 53 participants from 12 member states and five observer organizations, including the UNISDR.

Dealing with tsunamis in the Caribbean - Practical workshops

With the financial, technical and administrative support of various partners, including the Government of the Netherlands, the UNESCO-IOC Caribbean Tsunami Information Center (CTIC) is organizing a Regional Training Workshop on Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC) Enhanced Tsunami Products in Cartagena, Colombia from 31 October to 2 November 2017. The training will benefit twenty-six participants from fifteen Member States of the Intergovernmental Coordinating Group for the Tsunami and Other Coastal Hazards System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions (ICG/CARIBE EWS).

The Caribbean and its adjacent regions are prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. Over the last ten years, there have been significant improvements in analyzing earthquakes, modelling tsunamis and distributing information, allowing national disaster management officials to effectively receive, analyze and take appropriate action based on the PTWC tsunami forecasts.

Due to the impacts of extreme weather events during the 2017 hurricane season, lessons to be learned, particularly in relation to communications and observing systems, will notably be discussed during the training, in addition to exercises and teaching on various topics ranging from evacuation planning to awareness strategies.

Between 2014 and 2017, more than 250 staff from Caribbean governmental agencies received training on tsunami preparedness and over 1,400,000 people have participated in tsunami evacuation exercises.