The U.S. Virgin Islands will be recognized as tsunami ready at the opening ceremony of an international scientific group meeting from Tuesday through May 15 on St. Thomas.
The U.S. Virgin Islands will host the ninth session of the UNESCO IOC ICG/CARIBE EWS – a long string of initials for an even longer official title – the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization-Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions.
The session is an intergovernmental coordinating group of international scientists and emergency managers working to establish a Caribbean tsunami warning system. The group’s ultimate goal is to reduce the loss of life and livelihoods due to coastal hazards, according to an announcement from the V.I. Territorial Management Authority.
The conference will be held at the Sugar Bay Resort & Spa on St. Thomas. It is the first time the group will have ever met on U.S. soil since it was created in 2005.
During the conference’s opening ceremony, Steven Cooper, acting director for NOAA’s Southern Region; Michael Angove, NOAA Tsunami Program manager; and Christa von Hillebrandt-Andrade, manager of the NOAA Caribbean Tsunami Warning Program at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, will officially recognize the US Virgin Islands’ as "Tsunami Ready."
"Tsunami Ready" status is granted by the NWS/NOAA once certain requirements are met, such as establishing an emergency operations center and a 24-hour warning point to receive tsunami information.
The British Virgin Islands will also receive Tsunami Ready recognition at the ceremony.
More than 50 participants are expected to attend the conference, representing 17 countries, including Barbados, Colombia, Curacao, Dominican Republic, France, Haiti, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Saint Lucia, Saint Maarten, the United Kingdom, the United States and Venezuela.
Organizations represented will include the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, UNAVCO and the Caribbean Tsunami Information Center.
“We are honored to both host and be a part of the U.S. delegation to this conference,” said VITEMA Director Elton Lewis. “All of the organizations and countries represented in the ninth session of the ICG/CARIBE EWS are contributing significantly to evaluating risks and building tsunami programs that reduce the loss of life and the negative impact on economies.”
The U.S. delegation will include officials from National Weather Service/National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Puerto Rico Seismic Network, the Puerto Rico Emergency Management Agency and VITEMA.
In February 2013, Gov. John deJongh Jr. accepted UNESCO’s request for the territory to host the conference and tasked VITEMA with preparing for the arrival of international guests.
Bernardo Aliaga of the UNESCO IOC Secretariat and deJongh will deliver the welcome and opening remarks at the opening ceremony, which is scheduled to begin 9 a.m. Tuesday.