Claudine Housen, Staff Reporter
DR. CARBY
WESTERN BUREAU:
JAMAICANS MAY soon be able to benefit from hurricane watch information on their cellular phones, according to Dr. Barbara Carby, director general of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM).
Dr. Carby, who was speaking on Monday to delegates at the 26th Annual Caribbean Insurance Conference in Montego Bay, said that the ODPEM was in discussion with a cellular provider to send warning information via text messaging.
"The general idea would be that we can use the cellphones as a warning device so you could send a text message out that there is severe flooding in a particular area - proceed with caution - or that there is a hurricane alert up," she explained. "We could even go as far as to send hurricane tips via the cellphone."
While she did not disclose the name of the service provider, Dr. Carby said that the text messaging service should come on stream within this hurricane season, and that discussions will take place to ensure that it is open to all cellular phone users, irrespective of their individual providers.
Further noting the importance of communication, especially in crisis situations such as hurricanes, Dr. Carby also spoke about plans to revitalise the defunct (short wave) emergency radio system by December of this year. The system, she said, would be dedicated to disseminating information to other agencies at the national level, speak to persons at the parish level as well as provide information to high risk communities.
"All the emergency response teams will have them (walkie talkies)," she said. "That will also include non-governmental agencies, parishes and even critical communities."
