NASSAU, The Bahamas – The National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, tested its level of preparedness on Wednesday, March 26, 2014 to determine whether its systems can adequately respond to a Tsunami occurrence.

Captain Stephen Russell, Director of NEMA said he was generally pleased with the level of response by the Emergency Support Function groupings.
The goal was to test the protocols to alert the entire country by using communications techniques of the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the Bahamas Telecommunications Company, Bahamas Information Services, and staff at NEMA’s office, which notified the Family Island administrators.

Captain Russell said even though there was a message that went out stating “a TEST” was being conducted; members of the public read parts of it. Hence, the panic, which had a rippling effect throughout the communities.

He said however that: “We were generally pleased with the efforts. The entire Bahamas was alerted before the first island was impacted.”
A goal of NEMA is to install early warning systems strategically throughout the country, which can sound off sirens to alert the public about an imminent threat.

The simulation was part of a Caribbean and Northwestern Atlantic Tsunami Warning Exercise that was conducted throughout the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions, including US and Canadian East coasts.

The exercise provided an opportunity for emergency management organizations in some 31 countries throughout the region to exercise their operational lines of communications, review their tsunami response procedures, and promote tsunami preparedness.
The initial dummy message was issued by the Bahamas Department of Meteorology from the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) in Ewa Beach, Hawaii and the National Tsunami Warning Centre (NTWC) in Palmer, Alaska at 10 am on Wednesday, about an expected tsunami to strike around 2pm.
The test message stated that a Tsunami Watch was in effect for The Bahamas, due to an 8.5 earthquake that occurred about 3,550 miles north east of The Bahamas, originating from the Azores-Cape St Vincent Ridge.

The test message also warned that sea level readings in the vicinity of the earthquake indicate a tsunami was generated.
The estimated initial tsunami wave arrival times at forecast points within The Bahamas were:  Mayaguana at 2:02 pm, San Salvador at 2:08 pm, Long Island at 2:12 pm, Great Inagua at 2:23 pm, Exuma at 2:24 pm, Cat Island at 2:24 pm, Eleuthera at 2:29pm, Crooked Island at 2:34 pm, Andros Island at 2:35 pm, Nassau at 2:47pm, Abaco Island at 2:58pm, Freeport at 2:59 pm and Bimini Island at 3:12pm.
The tsunami exercise was conducted in the wake of recent tsunamis, which occurred in the Indian Ocean in 2004, Samoa in 2009, Haiti and Chile in 2010 and Japan in 2011.

Since 1842, about 3,500 people have lost their lives to tsunamis in the Caribbean. Historical records show that major earthquakes have struck the Caribbean region many times during the past 500 years. The region also has a long history of destructive earthquakes.

A tsunami is usually caused by a powerful earthquake under the ocean floor, resulting in the earthquake pushing a large volume of water to the surface, creating waves. These waves are the tsunami and as the approach the coast they get bigger and more dangerous. Tsunami waves can cause tremendous damage when they reach land. A tsunami can also be triggered by a volcanic eruption, landslide, or other movements of the Earth’s surface.
When a tsunami watch is issued, individuals in the watch area are advised to stay alert for further instructions and be alert to instructions from your local emergency officials. Individuals should move inland and seek higher ground; move off the beach and out of harbours and marinas; and do not go to the coast to observe the tsunami.