Fear not, it’s only a drill

Bermuda is set to be hit by a tsunami today – but only on paper.

The Bermuda Weather Service is to take part in a major international exercise designed to test the region’s abilities to deal with the real thing.

Weather Service director Kimberley Zuill said that exercise warnings would be posted on the Bermuda Weather Channel, CableVision and WOW, as well as on phone recordings, the Weather Service website and broadcast on VHF radio and that island residents should not be alarmed.

She added: “Residents should, however, note the relevant information contained within the exercise warnings and take the opportunity to think about their state of readiness, should such an actual event occur.”

The exercise scenario – called Lantex Caribe Wave - is based on an underwater earthquake or landslide triggering tsunami waves which head in the direction of Bermuda and other countries in the north-west Atlantic.

A similar exercise will be carried out in the Gulf of Mexico at the same time.

Ms Zuill said: “There are active earthquake and volcano zones in the Caribbean and historical tsunamis have been documented in the Atlantic also. The low frequency of these events is disarming, but the potentially devastating effects warrant at least a basic action plan.”

Ms Zuill added that Bermuda had experienced tsunami-like conditions in Flatts in 1929 – which was caused by an undersea earthquake and landslide off the coast of Newfoundland, which created a tsunami which killed dozens of people in the Maritimes of Canada.

Bermuda Maritime Operations Centre and the police will also take part in the exercise, which is sponsored by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminstration (NOAA) and led by the US National Tsunami Mitigation Programme. n