Castries, Saint Lucia, March 27, 2007 (NEMO) - With the official start of the hurricane season 65 days away Saint Lucia shall receive eight Flood Early Warning Systems for Communities for installation. Though the eight communities are yet to be identified the equipment will be best placed in area prone to flooding. The Early Warning System will become one more component which will form part of the Evacuation planning that is taking place in communities around the island. The Prototype Telephonic Rainfall early Warning System can be installed in the upper catchments to monitor rainfall regimes and instantaneously inform responsible agencies of the potential for flooding in the lower catchments. Flooding is the number one hazard in the Caribbean. Since 1980 3.4 million persons in the Caribbean and Latin America have been affected by flooding to an estimated damage of US$1,800 million.
Mr Naohito Ichiryu of JICA hands over the EWS to Ms Dawn French, Director NEMO, looking on are Mr. Jeremy Collymore, Coordinator, CDERA (l) and Dr. Jacob Opadeyi (r) of the UWI
The Engineering Institute of the University of the West Indies, through active participation in the Caribbean Disaster Management (CADM) Project has developed a Prototype Telephonic Rainfall Early Warning System (EWS) funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The rugged terrain of many of the islands of the region demand the early knowledge of rainfall events in the mountainous upper catchments of the watershed before the effect of flood water reaches residents in the lower catchments of the watersheds. The early knowledge will enable persons living in the flood prone areas to make adequate preparation for the impending flood water.
Source: National Emergency Management Office P O Box 1517, Castries, Saint Lucia Tel: 758-452-3802/Fax: 758-453-2152 E-mail (main) eoc@candw.lc (alternate E-mail)slunemo@yahoo.com NEMO's Web presence: http://www.geocities.com/slunemo
