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Ready for any tsunami, says Minister
Sri Lanka is fully equipped to receive tsunami warnings, Disaster and Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe told The Sunday Times yesterday. In the wake of last week’s earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Indonesia, the country was fully prepared within 23 minutes, as an early warning reached the Met. Department. “The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Hawaii, together with the Japanese Meteorology Agency sent a warning to the Met. Department as it is the focal point for tsunami warnings in the country,” Mr. Samarasinghe said. He said the information was updated regularly to warn the public and the media. “All we need is 20 minutes to warn the people if they are in imminent danger since there are 15-20 disaster management officers in all coastal districts who are ready to evacuate the people,” he said. The disaster management officers who mainly comprise of Army, Navy and Air Force personnel have undergone vigorous training to evacuate people living on the coast to higher grounds which have now been identified. “The people in these areas too are trained to follow route maps to reach safety in case of a tsunami. Police in these areas have been given megaphones to help in the process,” Mr. Samarasinghe said. “We are also planning with other South Asian countries by subscribing to the UNESCO-IOC Regional Tsunami Warning System,” Mr. Samarasinghe said adding that a long term plan would be to install deep sea buoys in the Indian Ocean to track the rise of sea water which is a warning signal. The Ministry has already received funds from UN-ESCAP to build three tsunami warning towers in the Eastern, Northern and Suthern Provinces and hopes to build another 25 towers by December 26 to mark the second anniversary of the disaster. |
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