On Thursday, July 22nd, the Department of Disaster Management, in collaboration with the various public utilities on the island, staged a hurricane preparedness drill to evaluate how effective the utility companies would respond in the event of a hurricane or any other type of disaster.
Participants involved in the drill exercise included the following: ANGLEC; FLOW; DIGICEL; Delta Petroleum; Sol; the Anguilla Fire and Rescue; the Royal Anguilla Police Force; the Anguilla Water Cooperation; the Anguilla Red Cross; Emergency Medical Services (EMS); the Department of Information Technology and E-Government Services (DITES); the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications, Utilities, Housing & Tourism (MICUHT); and the Department of Disaster Management.
The exercise was coordinated by personnel operating from “Incident Command” under a tent on the General Post Office grounds. In key command was the Utility Commander, Travis Carty. The Anguillian spoke with Mr. Carty and inquired about the proceedings of the exercises for the day: “Currently ANGLEC is removing some of its poles and transferring cables to new poles,” Mr. Carty explained. “This is to facilitate preparation for work on the Carter Rey Boulevard.
“However, this morning, we have had a couple incidents that have taken place relative to our drill exercise. There were ‘a couple casualties’ that resulted from ‘an accident’. We contacted the ambulance which responded in fair enough time. The injured persons were taken to the hospital.”
“Another scenario will soon take place,” Mr. Carty advised. “No one would know what nature or form the incidents would take until they actually ‘take place’. We get our commands from the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) which functions as the headquarters of the activities undertaken in response to a disaster emergency. Throughout the day we will conduct a simulation of a number of disaster-related events.”
The environment on the outskirts of the Post Office grounds was abuzz with activity, mostly due to the pole removal action undertaken by ANGLEC which was due to occupy the greater part of the day on Thursday.
– Staff Reporter, James R. Harrigan
