By Latrishka Thomas
Last Saturday, the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS) conducted a tsunami evacuation drill in the St. John’s Rural West District with the hope of maximizing tsunami preparedness amongst residents.
However, the organization reported that the activity was not well attended.
NODS has since acknowledged some of the factors that may have contributed to the poor turnout.
Public Relations Officer (PRO) of NODS, Midcie Francis, told OBSERVER media that after a post-drill briefing on Monday, the team responsible for the activity noted several shortcomings.
“There are a number of issues that we have to look into. There’s one specifically with regards to the sound of the siren. We used the Emergency Medical Services and the police’s siren and the vehicles were located in a few areas. Based on the feedback that we got, some of the residents were not able to hear the sirens,” Francis revealed.
She said that in hindsight the date chosen for the drill may have been a negating factor.
Another major concern mentioned by Francis is the lack of interest and the consistent denial among residents.
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