The Regional Civil Protection Service will carry out an exercise called ‘Procivex24’, on the 22nd of May, which aims to deepen the Operational articulation and the cooperation relationship between the service and the various Civil Protection Agents, exercising the planning and conduct of a joint operation, in response to a situation of Major Accident and/or Catastrophe, with the consequent activation of the Regional Emergency Plan for Civil Protection of the Region, and as such, the whole of the south coast of Madeira and Porto Santo will be placed under a simulated tsunami alert. As part of the exercise a fire alarm from the Santa Cruz Fire Station will ring for ten minutes.
This sound will warn the population of the municipality of a possible tsunami threat that could affect Madeira. The tsunami drill includes members from the Regional Civil Protection Service, the National Institute of Medical Emergency (INEM), Fire Brigades of the Region, Municipal Civil Protection Services, Public Security Police, the National Republican Guard, the Maritime Authority, Armed Forces, Portuguese Air Force (AM3), Institute of Forests and Nature Conservation, IP-RAM, Portuguese Red Cross, Sanas, EMIR, Regional Health Service of the Autonomous Region of Madeira (SESARAM, EPERAM), and the Social Security Institute of Madeira.
According to the organisers of “Procivex”, the name of the full-scale exercise, the Tsunami will hit the Madeira Archipelago, coming from the south. Each of the municipalities of the Autonomous Region of Madeira has a different mission and task. In Santa Cruz, where the tsunami will hit, the audible warning is to tell those living in vulnerable areas to leave as quickly as possible and seek refuge on high ground.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
Photo: JM
