Tsunami exercise for early-warning staff |17 April 2008

A simulated run-through of action in case of an emergency was staged at a workshop for staff from the fire brigade and police, meteorological officers, national disaster committee, district administrators and environment officials.

The workshop, held yesterday at the International Conference Centre, was run by the Department of Risk and Disaster Management (DRDM) with the help of two consultants from the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre.  

Its aim was to speed up the flow of warning messages to the grassroots level of communities as part of the early warning and disaster management system in Seychelles.

Explaining the background at the opening of the workshop, DRDM director general Michel Vielle told those taking part that the project was initiated a year ago, with funding from the United Nations Development Programme, to set up an early warning and disaster management system.

He said one of the main objectives of the simulation exercise was to familiarise key personnel with the type of warnings they would receive from Indian Ocean region partners in the event of a tsunami. Should such a situation arise, the meteorological office will be the first local organisation to be alerted.

Mr Vielle added that the exercise should give the different agencies involved in the process a clear idea of early standard procedures to put into practice, so they will know how best to react to particular scenarios.

Those at the workshop also watched a video produced jointly by the DRDM and the meteorological office on how the two organisations would react to disaster warnings and spread information to key local staff who would then become involved in contacting the public.