Tsunami Evacuation Drills Tomorrow!

[thaigerd]

From the PHUKET GAZETTE online

Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Tsunami evacuation drills tomorrow

PHUKET: All residents of coastal areas should be reminded that the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) tomorrow morning will conduct the first full-scale regional testing of its 79 tsunami warning sirens along the Andaman Coast, including 19 towers in Phuket.

Evacuation drills in tsunami-risk areas will be conducted by local administrative bodies working together with district offices and members of the local office of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM-Phuket).

All people living in risk areas are encouraged to take part in the drills and proceed along the designated evacuation routes when the sirens sound about 9:15 am.

Those areas are as follows:

Muang District:

- Ao Yon and other parts of Wichit;

- Karon, Kata, and Kata Noi;

- Nai Harn, Rawai, Koh Lone and Koh Racha;

- Chalong Bay.

Thalang District:

- Nai Yang;

- Bang Tao and Ley Pang Beach;

- Mai Khao;

- Ao Por.

Kathu District:

- Kamala

- Patong.

The initial warning sound will resemble that of an air raid siren. It will be followed by other siren sounds as well as voice messages in Thai and English.

The drill will conclude about 10:30 am.

Evacuation drills in several locations in Phuket, including Patong, are expected to be broadcast on Thai TV Channel 11.

NDWC Director Dr Smith Dharmasaroja said foreign observers will observe the drills.

Noting that his agency faces budget restrictions and is limited to monitoring the evacuations from TV feeds and official reports, he asked both the media and the general public to assist in providing extra feedback about the success of the drills in their areas.

The Gazette encourages all readers to take part in and/or observe the drills and report on:

Did the sirens sound properly?

Over what approximate range were they audible?

Approximately how many people took part in the evacuation?

How many public officials took part?

Were the evacuation routes clearly marked?

Did the drill increase your confidence in the warning system?

Send your report, along with any digital photos, to: [email protected]

Be sure to specify from which area your report is based.

[baabaabobo]

"Send your report, along with any digital photos, to: [email protected]" Got your camera ready ?

[LivinLOS]

Did anyone hear anything ??

I had all doors and widows open.. My place faces the beach..

Didnt hear anything in Patong.. OK I am perhaps 800m - 1km from the water but I am up on the hill and can hear sportsbikes howl up and down if theres fools on them..

Either it didnt go off or its VERY quiet !!

[solo siam]

I'm in Chalong and appear to be about 10m away from the PA system, It was VERY loud - I'm sure anyone in danger range would have heard the Chalong one, can't comment on the Patong one though.

Bit disconcerting when they state "The emergency is over, go back to saving people" or whatever it was.

[LivinginKata]

I was working in Patong, and never heard a thing.

Wife was home in Kata, and never head a thing.

This does not inspire much confidence in the warning system......

[Quero]

I live at the edge of Chalong/Rawai, past the school and restaurant strip. It was loud here and I could clearly hear the Thai and English and German announcements (at least enough to identify the languages and the word "tsunami" if not all the words). Other languages weren't as clear, but the sirens were. As I stood out on the upstairs porch listening I saw a young dad rushing his two little boys down the street in a panic. He looked up at me, confused at why I wasn't running, I suppose, until I told him it was a drill. So even those who weren't aware of the impending drill heard it and would have escaped in time. Good job done with at least this tower.

[Wellington]

I was working in Patong, and never heard a thing.

Wife was home in Kata, and never head a thing.

This does not inspire much confidence in the warning system......

Well I live in Kata , Laem Sai end of beach ,and the warning siren was terrific.Loud and clear, followed by what sounded like warnings in several languages, but these were less clear;

I would have thought the siren would have woken the heaviest sleeper in range of the beach.

At any rate it was obvious what was a-foot.

[LivinginKata]

I guess my wife must be deaf, or just ignored the sound as background noise. I can clearly see the Kata Beach warning tower (by the Tesiban office under construction), and it's less than 500m away.

[Wellington]

I guess my wife must be deaf, or just ignored the sound as background noise. I can clearly see the Kata Beach warning tower (by the Tesiban office under construction), and it's less than 500m away.

Could have been the wind was in the wrong direction!

You've opened up a whole new area of discussion by mentioning the Tesiban Building; in my view an appalling waste of public money, taking a prime sea front site when the land could have been sold and the surplus put into all the infrastructure improvements still necessary in the Kata area.

After all, an offfice building can be anywhere central.

[LivinginKata]

I've heard (??) that the new Tesiban building will have a tourist visitors centre, public gardens, and 'visitor features'. I really have no problem with an office building there as some one is going to build there, so does not matter to me. As for spending public money, and I'm a tax payer, mai pen rai... up to them.