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Anguilla Prepares For Hurricanes

As the hurricane season progresses, Anguilla is now taking precautionary measures to ensure the safety of the island and a speedy restoration in the event of a serious storm.

Deputy Governor, Mark Capes

Several top level disaster preparedness meetings and a number of simulation exercises were held during last week as part of the preparations for a possible strike of a hurricane on Anguilla.

On Wednesday July 20th, the twelfth annual Public Utilities Hurricane Drill, involving the island’s major utility companies, was held on the newly asphalted Bay View Road linking Shoal Bay to Island Harbour.

Hurricane Drill: L-R: Nigel Connor, Kenn Banks, Mark Capes, Sutcliffe Hodge, Jerry ‘Dice’ Richardson and Wycliffe Richardson

The exercise involved participants from ANGLEC, Cable & Wireless, Caribbean Cable Communications and the Ministry of Infrastructure Communications Utilities and Housing.

The objectives of the drill were to create an awareness of the threat of a hurricane for companies and the public; improve coordination between various participating companies; review the before, during and after events of a hurricane; simulate restoration activities and highlight the strengths and weaknesses of the participants.

Utility workers on hurricane drill

Drill activities included the removal of old utility poles no longer in use; the transfer of low voltage lines from old to new poles; improvement of service lines; the building of new high and low voltage lines and the trimming of trees.

The exercise was witnessed by the Deputy Governor, Mr. Mark Capes. Speaking at the closing ceremony at Elodias, Mr Capes said,

Changing power lines

“The better we prepare, the quicker and less traumatic will be the recovery following the storm. Paramount in our planning is the reduction of the risk of death or injury and then we must mitigate the risk of damage to property and infrastructure, to our economy, so that we can quickly pick ourselves up and get back on track to building a great future for Anguilla.”

He went on to stress the importance of carrying out, as an individual, a similar rigorous review of personal preparedness plans, saying that you will be surprised that there are still some things that can be improved.

PS of MICUH, Mr. Kenn Banks, also spoke at the ceremony. He thanked all participating companies for their cooperation and the smooth running of the drill.

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