Experts assist with Solomon Island's tsunami warning and mitigation system

The Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission (SOPAC) in conjunction with key Solomon Islands personnel, a team of experts from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology (the Bureau), and Emergency Management Australia (EMA) will begin a week long assessment of the Solomon Island’s tsunami warning and mitigation system early February 2008.

The visiting team includes experts in the fields of tsunami warnings, emergency management, regional disaster management, data and warning communications. The team will focus on a range of topics from community awareness of tsunami to issuing of tsunami warnings.

The fourteen SOPAC Member Countries participating in the project include Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Paua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

“At the completion of the project, we will have a clear understanding and appreciation of the current status of the Solomon Island’s ability to respond to tsunami events and where appropriate, what is specifically required to enhance our preparedness and effectiveness” said Mr Loti Yates, Director of the Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office.

“Tsunami advisories for the Pacific Ocean are issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) in Hawaii.”

“To effectively use the information provided by the PTWC, nations in the Pacific will require the appropriate processes and infrastructure to warn their communities.”

“By conducting the needs analysis, our aim is to better guide donor funding, if required, towards targeted improvements in priority areas of our tsunami warning and mitigation system,” said Mr Yates.

SOPAC Community Risk Management Adviser Noud Leenders reiterated the need for effective, integrated and people-focused early warning systems.

“To meet this need it is important to complete inventories and needs analyses of national early warning systems and identifies priorities for improvements that will better support national needs. It is important that this is completed with input from all stakeholders”.

“Although this project assesses the Solomon Island’s specific tsunami warning and mitigation needs, we anticipate that many of the processes and infrastructure can be used in an all- hazard context for other hazards such as severe weather events,” said Mr Leenders.

Funded by the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID), the project is part of the Australian Government’s commitment to facilitate tsunami warnings in the Pacific.

The visiting team will be in the Solomon Islands conducting the workshop from 5th February to 8th February 2008.

“We are always overwhelmed by the hospitality and resourcefulness of the countries we visit,” said Mr Bryan Boase, Assessment Team Leader from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology.

“The planned workshops will provide us with a tremendous opportunity to cross fertilise our knowledge with in-country experts.”