The Municipality of Portimão will participate, on the 6th of November, between 8:00 am and 14:30 pm, in the international exercise NEAMWave23 (NW23), within the scope of the Early Warning System for the North Atlantic, Mediterranean and Related Seas Region (NEAMTWS), which tests tsunami response capacity.
Coordinated by UNESCO's Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, this exercise will be “played” in a Live Exercise (LiVex) format, aiming to test the readiness of the NEAMTWS warning system.
According to the predicted scenario, on November 6th, the Municipal Civil Protection Service of Portimão will be notified, through the Portuguese Institute of the Sea and Atmosphere (IPMA) and the Algarve Regional Command of the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, of the existence of a tsunami warning, following which the warning sirens will be activated and the procedures established as part of the evacuation will be developed
The focus of the action will take place close to the Praia da Rocha Sports Area, so that the entities involved can “play” with the safe area prepared at the entrance to the Santa Catarina Fortress.
From then on, the municipality emphasizes that «it will become important to help all people who use the location, moving by bus those who need transport to the Concentration and Irradiation Zone (ZCI), installed in the Portimão Sports Pavilion, according to the itinerary established by the security forces”.
The proposed challenge, which is scheduled to conclude at 14:30 p.m., involves security forces being able to inform the Municipal Command Post of which routes buses can take to reach the pavilion, taking into account the flooded area and which is known as based on the previously prepared study.
Around 90 students from the Poeta António Aleixo and Bemposta Schools will participate in the simulation, where they attend technical courses in civil protection, water rescue and theater, who will be extras in the beach scene, being taken to the first safe zone, in Fortaleza, and later to ZCI.
The exercise takes place within the scope of World Tsunami Awareness Day, which takes place the day before, November 5th, and is promoted by the Algarve Regional Emergency and Civil Protection Command, with the aim of testing the Special Emergency Plan and Civil Protection for Seismic Risk and Tsunami in the Algarve (PEERST-Alg) and “play” this international exercise in the Command Post Exercise (CPX) modality in all municipalities in the region.
In the case of Portimão, which will “play” in the Live Excercise (LivEx) modality, the exercise will count on the participation of the Municipal Civil Protection Service, Firefighters of Portimão, parish councils of the municipality, Captaincy of the Port of Portimão, EMARP, PSP , Portuguese Red Cross, Local Health Authority and various organic areas of Portimão City Council, such as the Department of Works and Public Equipment Management, the Information, Communication and Brand Division, the Ports and Bathing Areas Division, the Division of Housing, Social Development and Health, and the Division of Education.
«Given the complexity inherent to this exercise, it is important to reassure the population, so that they are not alarmed by the movement of resources (PSP, Firefighters, Civil Protection, etc.), nor by the activation of warning sirens for the risk of tsunami» , warns the Municipality.
Through this exercise, Portugal's participation in NW23 guarantees compliance with the international commitments assumed in this area of intervention and creates a training and training opportunity for national entities that share competences within the same framework, allowing to test communications and procedures, identifying opportunities of improvement in response to a tsunami event.
Comments