HMCI Shares Lessons Learned During Regional Tsunami Preparedness Exercise
Grand Cayman, 20 March 2025 – The Cayman Islands’ participation in regional tsunami preparedness exercise, CARIBE WAVE, concluded today, Thursday 20 March. The exercise had both successes and challenges, as is expected during a test of this magnitude. Hazard Management Cayman Islands (HMCI) partnered with the Department of Education Services to observe and refine the earthquake and tsunami drills for 43 schools with students ranging from pre-school through Year 12, totalling over 11,000 participants. Initial feedback has been positive from the schools, as well as HMCI and Community Emergency Response Team observers. During the exercise, HMCI also tested the National Emergency Notification System, or NENS. The test showed two major areas that need to be addressed: In Phase I, the NENS Radio Interruption did not activate all stations as intended. In Phase II, the NENS Mobile App Alerts reached some devices but were not consistently delivered across all users and some did not play audible tones as expected. These two key observations are being investigated by the HMCI team in collaboration with our engineers, broadcast partners and app developers. The public will be notified once these issues have been rectified. |
| “Despite these challenges, we do want to encourage the public to continue to opt-in to NENS and download the mobile app. We are working vigilantly to troubleshoot issues as a part of our preparedness activities which strengthens our ability to respond in actual crises”, said Director Dani Coleman. Monthly maintenance will continue for NENS as well as the development of a cellular broadcast system, similar to AMBER alerts in the United States, as an alternate method to sharing emergency messaging. Persons who experienced technical difficulties during today’s exercise are encouraged to report them to HMCI by calling the main line 945-4624 or emailing nens@gov.ky. |
