BMS Insight app tsunami exercise

As part of the annual Carib Wave exercise activities, the Barbados Meteorological Service (BMS), also known as the MET Office, will conduct a test on its BMS Insight App on Thursday, March 19, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Deputy Director of the BMS, Brian Murray, explained that the Carib Wave exercise is an annual tsunami exercise organised by the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), which includes intergovernmental agencies. It takes place annually on the third Thursday of March.

Persons are asked not to be alarmed as the BMS Insight App tsunami icon will be activated on smartphones at 11:00 a.m., 11:10 a.m., 11:45 a.m., and 12:30 p.m., and the words EXERCISE, EXERCISE, EXERCISE will be embedded at the beginning and end of the messages.

The major objective of the Caribe Wave exercise is to test, validate, and update the tsunami response plans of participating regional countries, emergency management stakeholders, and at-risk communities.

Another segment of this year’s exercise includes evacuation drills being executed by the DEM, and will see students from Deacons Primary, Eagle Hall Primary and St. Leonard’s Boys’ Secondary participate in a tsunami drill based on a Kick ‘em Jenny scenario.

These activities aim to assist Barbados in its quest to have coastal communities ‘Tsunami Ready’ by 2030, in alignment with the United Nations Ocean Decade (2021- 2030). It is a comprehensive global framework designed to foster international cooperation in ocean science and policy. Led by UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, it acts as a coordinating structure for governments, scientists, and civil society to generate knowledge and deliver science-based solutions for sustainable development.

Persons who have not yet signed up to receive notifications from the MET Office’s BMS Insight App are encouraged to do so by visiting the Google Play Store. (SFC/BGIS)