The Montserrat Reporter

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, April 8, 2019. CCRIF SPC is pleased to announce that for a fifth year in a row it will provide funding of over US$220,000 to Caribbean nationals in support of scholarships and internships. This initiative is aimed at building a cadre of persons who can effectively provide support for comprehensive disaster risk management (DRM) and climate change adaptation in the region.  

The initiative is part of CCRIF’s Technical Assistance (TA) Programme which was launched in 2010. This programme has three main components – scholarships and professional development; support for local disaster risk management initiatives undertaken by non-governmental organizations; and regional knowledge building, which involves the development of MOUs with regional organizations towards implementation of strategic regional projects in support of DRM and climate change adaptation. Since the inception of the programme in 2010, CCRIF has invested over US$3 million. CCRIF operates as a not-for-profit organization and the resources made available for the TA Programme are derived from earned investment income.

With respect to scholarships, over the period 2010-2018, CCRIF has awarded 24 postgraduate and 29 undergraduate scholarships totalling US$445,250 to students from 8 countries for study at The University of the West Indies and US$545,561 to 16 students from 8 countries in the region for study in the USA and UK.

In 2019, through the CCRIF-UWI Scholarship Programme, CCRIF will provide scholarships to postgraduate and undergraduate students who are pursuing study at The University in areas related to disaster management at all three of its residential campuses (Mona, Jamaica; Cave Hill, Barbados and St. Augustine, Trinidad & Tobago). Eligible programmes of study include Geography/Geology, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Environmental Sciences, Meteorology, Insurance and Risk Management, Natural Resource Management, Land Management and Building and Construction Management. The undergraduate scholarships are awarded to students enrolled in a qualifying BSc or BA programme to cover their second and third (final) years of study. The value of each postgraduate scholarship is US$11,000 and each undergraduate scholarship US$8,000 (US$4,000 per year for the two years). The deadline for 2019 applications is June 2 2019. For further details:

http://www.ccrif.org/content/programmes/ccrif-uwi-scholarship

CCRIF also will provide up to four scholarships this year for study in master’s programmes in areas related to disaster risk management at universities in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada as well as at local universities (other than UWI) in Caribbean countries. Eligible areas of study under the CCRIF Scholarship Programme include: Catastrophe/Disaster Risk Management; Property/Casualty Insurance; Meteorology; other hazard/disaster-related disciplines and MBAs with a major in Risk Management and/or Insurance or a related field. Scholarships are valued up to a maximum of US$40,000 (for extra-regional universities) or US$20,000 (for Caribbean institutions) and are awarded to applicants who demonstrate academic excellence, are involved in, or work in the field of risk/disaster management or sustainable development in the Caribbean and have a record of broader community involvement. The deadline for 2019 applications is June 2 2019. For further details:

http://www.ccrif.org/content/scholarship

CCRIF’s flagship professional development programme is its Regional Internship Programme, which was launched in 2015. It is designed to provide opportunities for students who have specialized in the areas of disaster risk management, environmental management, actuarial science, geography, climate studies and other similar areas to be assigned to national and regional organizations where their educational experience can be enhanced through practical work assignments. In this initiative, CCRIF is partnering with a range of organizations who act as host organizations. These include national disaster management and meteorology agencies as well as: the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA); Caribbean Development Bank (CDB); Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS); Caribbean Community Climate Change Centre (CCCCC); CARICOM Secretariat; Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) and various departments of the campuses of the University of the West Indies (UWI), among others. Since 2015, CCRIF has placed 85 interns in 27 host organizations with an investment of almost US$270,000.

The programme is open to citizens of CARICOM and/or CCRIF Caribbean member countries who are graduates of a recognized university. The interns should have completed a course of study in any one of the following key areas: disaster risk management, environmental management, meteorology, climate studies, civil engineering, management studies with a focus on risk management, environmental economics, geography, geology, civil engineering, risk management and actuarial science. The deadline for 2019 applications is June 2 2019. For further details:

http://www.ccrif.org/content/regional-internship-programme

CCRIF is the world’s first multi-country risk pool in the world, providing parametric insurance for tropical cyclones, earthquakes and excess rainfall to 19 Caribbean governments and 2 Central American governments. To date, CCRIF has made payouts totalling US$139 million to 13 member governments – all made within 14 days of the event. Data from member countries show that over 2.5 million persons in the Caribbean have benefitted from these payouts.

Through its insurance products and Technical Assistance Programme, CCRIF is committed to supporting Caribbean countries towards reducing vulnerabilities and building resilience within the context of advancing sustainable prosperity of the small island and coastal states of the region.

About CCRIF SPC: CCRIF SPC is a segregated portfolio company, owned, operated and registered in the Caribbean. It limits the financial impact of catastrophic hurricanes, earthquakes and excess rainfall events to Caribbean and – since 2015 – Central American governments by quickly providing short-term liquidity when a parametric insurance policy is triggered. It is the world’s first regional fund utilising parametric insurance, giving member governments the unique opportunity to purchase earthquake, hurricane and excess rainfall catastrophe coverage with lowest-possible pricing. CCRIF was developed under the technical leadership of the World Bank and with a grant from the Government of Japan. It was capitalized through contributions to a Multi-Donor Trust Fund (MDTF) by the Government of Canada, the European Union, the World Bank, the governments of the UK and France, the Caribbean Development Bank and the governments of Ireland and Bermuda, as well as through membership fees paid by participating governments. In 2014, an MDTF was established by the World Bank to support the development of CCRIF SPC’s new products for current and potential members, and facilitate the entry for Central American countries and additional Caribbean countries. The MDTF currently channels funds from various donors, including: Canada, through Global Affairs Canada; the United States, through the Department of the Treasury; the European Union, through the European Commission, Germany, through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development and KfW, and Ireland. In 2017, the Caribbean Development Bank, with resources provided by Mexico, approved a grant to CCRIF SPC to provide enhanced insurance coverage to the Bank’s Borrowing Member Countries.

For more information about CCRIF:

Website: www.ccrif.org | Email: pr@ccrif.org |  Follow @ccrif_pr |  CCRIF SPC

#ccrif #scholarships #internships #technicalassistance #universities #uwi #students #postgraduate #undergraduate #disasterriskmanagement #drm #caribbean #climatechange

Via – Loop TT

The preliminary details are as follows:

The University of the West Indies Seismic Research Centre (UWI-SRC) has recorded a 4.7 magnitude earthquake near Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Kitts and Nevis and Guadeloupe.

DATE AND TIME:
2019-03-21 04:12 am (Local Time)
2019-03-21 08:12 (UTC)

MAGNITUDE:
4.7

LOCATION:
Latitude: 18.81N
Longitude: 60.41W
Depth: 10 km

NEARBY CITIES:
247 km NE of Saint John’s, Antigua and Barbuda
308 km NE of Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis
310 km NE of Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe

If you felt this earthquake, please tell us (http://uwiseismic.com/EarthquakeFeedback.aspx)

DISCLAIMER: this event has NOT been reviewed by an analyst. It was automatically located by a seismological computational system, therefore, it is a PRELIMINARY result and this may vary when new additional data are processed.

by STAFF WRITER

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados, Jan. 13, CMC – Several countries in the region were rocked by a magnitude 3.4 earthquake early Sunday.

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reports that at 7:29 a.m. (local time) the tremor affected the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, St. Martin, Sint Maarten, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, Puerto Rico, St. Kitts Nevis, US Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, Anguilla and St. Barthelemy.

The USGS reports that the earthquake was located 78 kilometres NNE of Road Town in British Virgin Islands, with a depth of 88.0 kilometres.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

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Jan 9, 2019 – Caribbeean News Service – The European Union has disbursed EC$17.55 million (€5.72M) to the Government of Montserrat (GoM) as the First Fixed tranche under the Multi Sector Sustainable Economic Development Budget Support Programme.

The assistance is inclusive of an emergency top-up payment of EC$1 million (€320,000) as additional support to help with the economic recovery of Montserrat after Hurricane Maria struck in September 2017.

The overall objective of the Budget Support Programme is to assist in setting Montserrat on a path of sustainable economic development, based on its 2017-2021 Medium Term Economic Policy (MTEP).

The assistance is expected to support Montserrat’s renewable energy thrust and new port development to facilitate accessibility to the island. It is also geared towards enhancing the country’s tourism industry as well as improving the business environment and more inclusive private sector development.

The European Union Delegation will continue to support Montserrat’s efforts to create a coherent, comprehensive and sustainable policy framework that will ensure sustained and inclusive economic growth in the long term.

The EU welcomed the determination of the Government of Montserrat to increase economic resilience through strategic sector projects and mainstreaming resilience in all policies. This includes ensuring adequate building codes and standards in order to mitigate socio-economic losses in the event of natural disasters.

The EU Delegation expressed satisfaction to the Government of Montserrat as it continues to show progress and commitment towards prudent Public Financial Management (PFM), good Budgetary Transparency reforms and the pursuit of stable macroeconomic policies.

The overall programme (Grant) of the current 11 European Development Fund intervention is approximately EC$57.35 million (€18.72M).

The programme is expected to run until 2022, with EC$54.30 million (€17.72M) earmarked for multi sector development as budget support.

Montserrat also benefits from regional EU assistance for Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-46356998

BBC News

By Philippa Fogarty
Kingston, Jamaica

8 December 2018

The last time a major tsunami hit the Caribbean region was in 1946, after an 8.1-magnitude earthquake struck the Dominican Republic on the island of Hispaniola.

At Playa Rincón, the sea rushed 700m (2,300ft) inland, according to a man who clung to the top of an almond tree to survive. Waves were 5m high in places and 1,600 people died across the north-east coast. Small tsunami waves were also recorded in Puerto Rico, Bermuda and even New Jersey.

Since then, a handful of tsunamis have occurred – in Panama and Costa Rica in 1991 after an earthquake, and in Montserrat in 1997 after a landslide of volcanic debris. After the devastating earthquake in Haiti in 2010, sub-sea landslides generated waves that killed three people.

Over the same period, populations have more than doubled and tourist numbers on Caribbean beaches have soared, passing 30 million in 2017. In most places, infrastructure is concentrated in coastal areas.

Experts warn that the region runs the risk of complacency over the tsunami threat.

• Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones: What’s the difference?
• Ships warned off underwater volcano
• How my child came back from the dead

“The potential for tsunamis is significant and has to be taken seriously,” says Christa von Hillebrandt-Andrade, who oversees the Puerto Rico-based Caribbean Tsunami Warning Program under the US National Weather Service.

“Within the Caribbean and bordering the Caribbean, there are major fault structures and also volcanoes that could generate a tsunami at any time.”

Multiple risks

Key areas are along the north-eastern and eastern boundaries of the Caribbean where the North American and South American plates interact with the Caribbean plate.

Tsunamis in the Caribbean

• Tsunamis can be regional (triggered by huge quakes in subduction zones) or local (from smaller quakes, quake-linked landslides or volcanic activity)
• The Caribbean is vulnerable to both; some 3,500 people have died in tsunamis in the last 500 years
• In 1692, an earthquake, tsunami and liquefaction sank most of Jamaica’s pirate city, Port Royal
• 1n 1867, an offshore quake triggered 10m-high tsunami waves in the US Virgin Islands, with other deaths occurring in Guadeloupe and Puerto Rico

These boundaries include areas of subduction (where one plate is forced under another, as in the Indian Ocean in 2004) and strike-slip motion (where plates are side by side, like the San Andreas fault).

One area to watch is the subduction zone east of the Lesser Antilles, says Dr Robert Muir-Wood, chief research officer at RMS catastrophe risk modelling consultancy and the author of a 2015 report on mega-tsunamis. “We strongly suspect this area is potentially prone to these really large earthquakes, which would be associated with a major regional tsunami.”

Another series of faults lie north of Hispaniola, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands, and includes the 8,400m-deep Puerto Rico Trench. While this area is not a straightforward subduction zone and there has not been a really significant earthquake along this boundary, there is evidence of massive submarine landslides into the trench and historical reports of local tsunamis, says Dr Muir-Wood.

Big earthquakes have also occurred off the Caribbean coast of Central America and Venezuela.

“The Caribbean is clearly a place where both [regional and local] types of tsunamis can be anticipated, and the key is that simply because an event hasn’t happened in the last 300 years of history doesn’t mean it can’t happen,” says Dr Muir-Wood.

Warning time

Before 2004, Ms von Hillebrandt-Andrade says tsunami warning systems in the Caribbean were “basically non-existent”. But the Indian Ocean disaster sparked action and a regional body on tsunami risk was established under Unesco in 2005.

Significant work has been done to increase the data flow to the Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC), which provides alerts to the region.

“Every single country has opened up its seismic data and that has been absolutely critical,” says Ms von Hillebrandt-Andrade.

Today there are 80 sea-level stations and 125 seismic stations sending information, up from five and 10 respectively in 2004. “That has permitted us to reduce our lead time – the time it takes to issue the initial [tsunami warning] product – from 10-15 minutes to under 5 minutes.”

Once PTWC has issued an advisory, responsibility for local alerts devolves to national governments. At this level, Ms von Hillebrandt-Andrade says, capabilities “vary greatly throughout the region”.

Some places, like Puerto Rico, have well-established protocols. Other places are less practised.

In January, when PTWC issued its first international tsunami threat message to the region after a 7.6 earthquake off Honduras, governments in the Cayman Islands and Jamaica, for example, faced questions over their response.

• Aerial shots of tsunami aftermath
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Some governments “had a little bit more difficulty deciding what product they should issue, if they should issue a product, if there really was a real threat”, says Ms von Hillebrandt-Andrade. “Strengths and weaknesses were identified.”

Funding vital

One early aim of the regional body was to establish a centre like PTWC in the Caribbean, but that has been sidelined in favour of improving education. Local tsunamis can potentially reach shore before an alert, and lives can be saved if residents know to seek high ground.

Central to this educational push is the annual tsunami exercise, Caribe Wave, and the Tsunami Ready programme, now adopted by Unesco, which sets out guidelines for communities to meet. So far Puerto Rico, Anguilla, St Kitts & Nevis and the Virgin Islands are certified as Tsunami Ready, while pilot projects have taken place in Haiti and Grenada.

In Grenada the area chosen was St Patrick’s Parish, 8km (5 miles) south of rumbling submarine volcano Kick ‘Em Jenny. Educational billboards, evacuation maps and signs have been posted and an awareness programme carried out.

“We had to get down on the ground and interact with all of the community groups, we worked with the churches, the schools, the fisherfolk, the farmers,” says Senator Winston Garraway, minister of state with oversight of disaster management and information. “From the senior people to the children, they have the information now and they know exactly what has to be done.”

The government wants the whole island to be Tsunami Ready by 2020, starting with a southern parish potentially vulnerable to a tsunami generated off Venezuela. Mr Garraway also wants to establish a nationwide siren system to complement alerts disseminated via radio and TV.

But resourcing is a major problem for small island nations like Grenada, which must also address twin challenges of hurricanes and the impact of climate change. “Most of what we have to do, we do not have the ready resources,” says Mr Garraway. “Grant funding is extremely important for us at this time.”

Regionally, work remains to be done. Scientists still do not have the data needed to accurately size very large earthquakes and their type of movement quickly. Tsunami protocols for cruise ships are needed. Better understanding of bathymetry (water depth and shore height) would enable better scenario modelling, but some nations do not have that information.

“Every single country and territory in the region has room for improvement,” says Ms von Hillebrandt-Andrade.

“Tsunamis don’t occur that frequently, so it’s very easy to become desensitised. But the reality is that a tsunami could kill many more people than any hurricane could.”

Related Topics

Important Notice especially for visitors, tourists and sightseers

This will be a setback for tourists on the Windstar Vessel due to arrive on Tuesday, Crafters, and especially taxi drivers who according to DiscoverMNI were urged to be ready!

 Further to potential flood warnings – comes this news later in the day

The Disaster Management Coordination Agency (DMCA) in consultation with the Commissioner of the Royal Montserrat Police Service (RMPS) has taken a decision to cease access to areas south of Belham Valley.

 The decision was taken due to the road being compromised and also to allow the authorities to carry out remedial work on the road in an effort to ensure the safety of all users.

 The road at Belham Valley will, therefore, be closed from 5 o’clock this afternoon and a further update will be given in due course.

 Persons, south of Belham are asked to make their way to the north immediately.

The Antigua Meteorological Services has issued a flash flood advisory for Montserrat.

DMCA – November 12, 2018 (mid-day) The warning is in effect for minor flooding in low lying and flood prone areas and is valid until 5 pm today.

Therefore, the  Disaster Management Coordination Agency (DMCA) is advising motorists to drive with due care and attention and be mindful of areas prone to flooding. The areas are  Robert W Griffith Drive from Little Bay to Carrs Bay – adjacent to Piper’s Pond and Pump Ghaut in St John’s.

The DMCA is also cautioning motorists especially when driving to remain alert and look out for areas prone to landslides and rockfalls namely from Forgathy to Cudjoe Head, Pump Ghaut to Look Out and the Barzey’s area.

Residents in Isles Bay Hill and other persons crossing the Belham Valley River are asked to take extra precautions during heavy rainfall associated due, to the possibility of lahars occurring with little or no warning in the area.

A flood advisory means that streams, creeks and drains may be elevated or even overflowing into streets, low lying and flood prone areas; however, property damage will be minimal.

Inconveniences can be expected but the flooding is not expected to be immediately life-threatening. however, just one foot of flowing water is enough to sweep vehicles off the road. when encountering flooded roads be extremely cautious, and if in doubt, make the smart choice, turn around don’t drown. move to higher ground.

A persistent trough over the northeast Caribbean is influencing the weather over the leeward and British Virgin Islands, causing periodic heavy showers. already, based on radar estimates, up to an inch of rainfall has fallen in the vicinity of the island. hence, minor flooding of low lying and flood prone areas is expected.