First coordinated drill for Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean locations
This is not an April fool’s joke. On Thursday April 2nd, at 9:00 AM EDT officials from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and emergency managers will be testing the communication and response plans to help coastal communities prepare for a tsunami. Here in central New York, we will not likely hear these sirens along the Lake Ontario or Finger Lake shorelines. However, people living along the Atlantic coasts of the United States, Canada, the Gulf of Mexico, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands will hear tsunami test messages broadcast over television and radio stations. During this test, some emergency management agencies along the United States’ east and Gulf coasts will conduct response drills. Some areas of Puerto Rico will have evacuation dry runs. The Canadian Atlantic Provinces and other United States Caribbean territories and commonwealths will also be a part of this exercise. Evaluations of how effective their responses were will help better serve the public in the event of a real tsunami threat.
One might wonder if there is even a threat of a tsunami near the United States. Five years ago sections of Indonesia were crushed by an enormous tsunami where roughly 230,000 people perished. Prior to that event, that area was considered low risk zone. Jack Hayes, the director of NOAA’s National Weather Service, explains, “The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami raised awareness about the urgent need to be prepared. This important exercise will test the Tsunami Warning System to identify operational strengths and weaknesses in each community that takes part.”
For more on your weather, click on “Weather” and then the “Live Triple Doppler Radar” tab on our weather page. Make sure you refresh the Doppler radar to see the very latest information, as well. Furthermore, we have our new Interactive Doppler Radar on our website. You can zoom down to street level with Interactive Doppler Radar. You are in total control of where the radar can zoom in. Give it a try. In addition, you may tune to NBC Weather Plus on Time Warner Cable digital channel 133 or over the air 3.3 to get the very latest weather updates locally and nationally. Plus, click on our Watches and Warnings map to see the very latest county specific watches and warnings.
