Montserrat tests ability of emergency response agencies
By Caribbean Net News
Sun, 13 Jul 2008, 13:57
Source: http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-9096--22-22--.html
Brades, Montserrat, July 12, 2008 - Montserrat has
successfully concluded a disaster management exercise designed to test
the ability of the country’s emergency response agencies.
According
to the island’s Disaster Management Coordination Agency (DMCA), “a full
scale disaster management exercise to test the ability of the country’s
response agencies to cope with any major incident” was just concluded.
The
DMCA says that the scenario included “a major hurricane impacting
Montserrat.” The exercise lasted four days and involved all response
agencies on island.
Keith
Dyett reports that elements from the Royal Navy participated in the
exercise. Unconfirmed reports say that Prince William was on board the
Royal Navy’s vessel while it docked in Montserrat’s tranquil harbour.
The
DMCA reports that the exercise sought to test the supporting systems,
mechanisms, and procedures that currently exist between the islands;
regional; and international partners.
Montserrat’s
DMCA says that the objectives of the exercise were, initially, to test
the “disaster management command elements and control systems”. Another
objective included a test of the effectiveness of the communication
systems on Montserrat, “both inner and intra systems”. Yet another
objective tested the activation procedures for the Emergency Operations
Centre (EOC).
One
objective was an evaluation of the “effectiveness of the decision
making process at all levels in the EOC. Further objectives included a
test of the “emergency plans of various agencies”, namely a hurricane
and volcanic; a training mechanism for disaster management responders;
a test of the regional response mechanism; an opportunity “to test the
regional response mechanism”; a venue to test and “strengthen the
networking among national, regional, and international agencies”; and
another opportunity to “evaluate the state of the runway at Bramble
Airport”.
The
disaster management exercise began with a public address on ZJB Radio
by the Governor of Montserrat, Peter Waterworth. The radio address
said, “…the Governor, Mr. Peter Waterworth, convened a meeting of the
National Disaster Preparedness Response Agency Advisory Council (NPRAC)
on Friday, 4 July 2008 in response to information from the acting
Director of the DMCA, Mr James White Jr., stating that the plotted
couse of Hurrican Charlie has formed in the Caribbean and could pose a
direct threat to Montserrat.”
Another
radio address by Waterworth reported on the resulting damage of the
hurricane, “Hurricane Charlie has caused some damage to the island but
the situation is relatively calm, and damage assessment teams have been
dispatched to all areas of the island, to observe the extent of the
damage caused by the hurricane.”
The
next radio address continued, “The British frigate, HMS Iron Duke has
entered Montserrat’s waters and is lending assistance to the island
with a team on hand to coordinate activities with local authorities.”
When
it was all over, there were no reported deaths. The island’s only
hospital remained in tact. Other buildings that excaped the damage of
the category 5 hurricane included the Warden Shelter housing, yet to be
built, and the police compounds.
The
results of Montserrat’s disaster management exercise revealed that its
only radio station continued broadcasting in spite of the implications
of the emergency; the country could sustain itself for one week; and
there will be a supply of one million gallons of water available in
storage.