Community Invited to Participate in World Tsunami Awareness Day

The Offices of Guam Homeland Security and Civil Defense (GHS/OCD), following a worldwide initiative through the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), invite the community to celebrate “World Tsunami Awareness Day” (WTAD)tomorrow, November 5, 2019, to promote a global culture of tsunami awareness. Tsunamis are rare but can affect many people, especially those living in coastal communities across multiple countries. Awareness, education, early warning systems, and detection can save lives.

This year, WTAD promotes one of the targets of the “Sendei Seven Campaign,” which focuses on reducing disaster damage to critical infrastructure and disruption of basic services. Over 700 million people worldwide live in low-lying coastal areas and islands exposed to extreme sea-level events including tsunamis. Investing in resilient infrastructure, early warning systems, and education is critical to saving people and protecting their assets against tsunami risk in the future.

As part of the initiative, GHS/OCD and the National Weather Service (NWS) – Guam Weather Forecast Office (WFO) will distribute National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Weather Radios to various organizations to include some private, non-profit organizations, private school, and private sector partners on Tuesday, November 5 at 1:30 p.m. at the GHS/OCD facility in Agana Heights.

On Tuesday, November 5, 2019, GHS/OCD encourages the community to use Tsunami Awareness Day to have discussions with family and friends about how to prepare for a tsunami, recognize the Tsunami Evacuation Route signs and Safe Assembly Area signs in your area and document your WTAD activities by using the following hashtags on social media: #TsunamiDay and #BuildToLast.

Visit the following links for more information on how to prepare for tsunamis:

The Sendei Seven Campaign – 7 Targets, 7 Years: www.preventionweb.net/files/ 54917_iddr2017 conceptnote.pdf
www.un.org/en/events/tsunamiday/
www.unisdr.org/tsunamiday
www.weather.gov/jetstream/tsunami_intro
www.weather.gov/safety/tsunami
nws.weather.gov/nthmp/ushazard.html
www.ghs.guam.gov/tsunamis
www.ready.gov/tsunamis

For more information, contact GHS/OCD Tsunami Specialist, Denille Calvo at (671) 475-9600 or via email at denille.calvo@ghs.guam.gov.

For media inquiries, contact Public Information Officer, Jenna G. Blas at (671) 478-0208 or via email at jenna.g.blas@ghs.guam.gov.

X Flooding is a temporary overflowing of water onto land that is normally dry. Flooding may happen with only a few inches of water, or it may cover a house to the rooftop. There are many possible causes of floods including heavy rain, coastal storms and storm surge, waterway overflow from being blocked with debris, or overflow of levees, dams, or waste water systems. Flooding can occur slowly over many days or happen very quickly with little or no warning, called flash floods.

To learn more, visit https://www.ready.gov/floods

Wildfire

Regularly clean the roof and gutters.
Maintain an area approximately 30’ away from you home that is free of anything that will burn, such as wood piles, dried leaves, newspapers and other brush.
Connect garden hoses long enough to reach any area of the home and fill garbage cans, tubs, or other large containers with water.
Review your homeowner's insurance policy and also prepare/update a list of your home's contents.

Fire Weather

Turn on your TV/radio. You’ll get the latest weather updates and emergency instructions.
Know where to go. If you are ordered to evacuate, know the route to take and have plan of where you will go. Check-in with your friends and family.
Keep your car fueled, in good condition, and stocked with emergency supplies and a change of clothes.

Drought

Conserve water

Take shorter showers.

Turn off the water while brushing your teeth or shaving.
Run the washer less frequently and only when you have a full load.
Water your lawn less frequently and do so when the temperature is cooler in the early morning or late evening.
When you run the tap to heat or cool water, keep a pitcher to store the water and use it to water plants.
Avoid washing your car.

Practice fire prevention

Don't set off fireworks when conditions are dry.
Deposit cigarette butts in the proper receptacle to avoid starting a
Pour water over camp fires and backyard fire pits to ensure they are completely out before leaving them unattended.

Follow directions from local officials. If there are restrictions on water usage, be sure to heed them.

To learn more, visit https://www.ready.gov/wildfires and https://www.ready.gov/drought

X
Typhoons/Hurricanes are massive storm systems that form over the water and move toward land. Threats from typhoons/hurricanes include high winds, heavy rainfall, storm surge, coastal and inland flooding, and rip currents.

“Hurricanes” form in the Atlantic Northeast Pacific region and “Typhoons” form in the Northwest Pacific Region. These large storms are call cyclones in other parts of the world.

To learn more, visit https://www.ready.gov/hurricanes.