Governor John Rankin, right, looks at a map of the region used during a tsunami and earthquake drill held last Thursday morning. (Photo: DDM)

Virgin Islands residents were among nearly 400,000 people across the Caribbean and Latin America who took part in the annual Caribe Wave tsunami preparedness drill last Thursday.

Schools, businesses, families and government agencies practised earthquake and tsunami responses of “drop, cover and hold” as well as evacuating to higher ground, according to the Department of Disaster Management.
DDM acting Director Jasen Penn said he was pleased by the participation from the private sector and the public service alike, including Premier Andrew Fahie and Governor John Rankin.

For the exercise, DDM officers also set up the National Emergency Operations Centre at its designated alternate location in the territory’s 911 Call Centre at the Dr. Orlando Smith Hospital.

“One of our departmental objectives was to exercise the physical setup of the alternate EOC location as outlined in the National Disaster Management Plan,” Mr. Penn said. “The staff moved with efficiency and was able to establish/stand up the EOC in just a few minutes, which allowed us to test communications with many of the participants who were evacuating at the time.”

This year’s drill scenario simulated a major earthquake occurring off the coast of Jamaica, triggering a tsunami warning around the region, including in the VI.

Participants are encouraged to share their feedback on the exercise via a survey at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Caribewave21GenFeedback.

Caribe Wave is coordinated along with the United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Caribbean entities including the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency and national disaster management offices in the region.