TCI: Annual Hurricane Preparedness Month Campaign Activities

#Providenciales, May 16, 2019 – Turks and Caicos – The Department of Disaster Management Emergencies (DDME), launched its Annual Hurricane Preparedness Month Campaign under the theme “PARTNERS IN PREPAREDNESS – Know your Risk; Get a Plan, Put your plan into Action”.

As part of the campaign, a number of activities are taking place in collaboration with stakeholders across the islands. The main goal of the campaign is to assist stakeholders, residents and business owners to become more proactive as it relates to building disaster resilience throughout the Turks and Caicos Islands.  Two such upcoming events are as follows: –

1.  Salt Cay Evacuation Exercise – This exercise isscheduled for May 20th, 2019 at 10:00am in Salt Cay. This aims to test a sea evacuation of the residents, in accordance with the Draft Salt Cay Island Disaster Management Plan, 2019.  Stakeholders participating in this exercise are the District Administration of Salt Cay, Royal Turks and Caicos Police Force (RTCPF), Public Works Department (PWD), Ministry of Health, Domestic Fire Services, and Brittany Leigh Ferry Services.

• The 2nd Annual Hurricane Preparedness Expo – Scheduled for Friday 24^th May, 2019, this Expo will showcase a host of government and private stakeholders in their roles in disaster management. Participating agencies include: DDME, Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR), Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health (EMS and Advocacy Unit), TCI Tourist Board, RTCPF, Domestic Fire Services, Provo Chambers of Commerce, TCI Red Cross, Provo Water, FORTIS TCI, Interhealth Canada, Flow, and Digicel). The event will be held at theEdward Gartland Youth Centre in Providenciales from 9:00 am – 2:00 pm.

Residents are reminded that the Atlantic Hurricane Season begin June 1^st. The latest predictions as of April 4^th, by hurricane researchers at the Colorado State University (CSU), indicates that the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season will be slightly below-average this year.  In total, the CSU team predicts thirteen (13) named storms; five (5) predicated to become hurricanes and two (2) predicted to reach major hurricane strength (i.e. Category 3 or above).  

The DDME, cannot over emphasize the importance of early preparation in spite of the predications. Hurricane Awareness and Readiness can help to reduce the impact of hurricane on our lives, communities and businesses. In fact, research has shown that families, individuals and businesses who know their vulnerability and who have taken concrete steps to prepare for an event are more likely to increase their chances of surviving than those who are not prepared.

Release: DDME