Abstract
Abstract. As far back as history has been written in the islands today known as the US Virgin Islands (USVI), residents have had to endure and survive costly and deadly onslaughts from tropical storms such as the 1867 San Narciso Hurricane, Hurricane Hugo and Hurricane Marilyn. Keenly alerted by recent tragic events in the Indian Ocean in 2004, in Haiti in 2010 and in Japan in 2011, the USVI was reminded that it had suffered its greatest tsunami impact in a well-documented event that had followed the 1867 hurricane by fewer than three weeks. To address their community's continual vulnerability to coastal hazards, USVI emergency managers, scientists and educators, assisted by national and regional disaster management agencies and warning programs, have engaged programs for understanding, anticipating and mitigating these hazards. This paper focuses on how three public-serving institutions, the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA), the University of the Virgin Islands and the Caribbean Ocean Observing System have responded to the community's need for improved preparedness through programs of physical preparation, planning, research, observations, education and outreach. This report reviews some of the approaches and activities employed in the USVI in the hope of sharing their benefits with similarly vulnerable coastal communities.
Highlights
As a result of its location, the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an island community of approximately 106 000 citizens, is at-risk for impacts from several coastal hazards
Official responsibility and authority for providing the people of the US Virgin Islands with disaster preparedness and warning is vested in the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA), which was created in 1985 with the overarching mission of saving lives and property
Governor deJongh, enacted the Emergency Management Act of 2009 which elevated VITEMA to stand-alone, cabinet level with jurisdiction over the previously separated functions such as the 911 system, which was under the VI Police Department, the VI Office of Homeland Security, which was under the Office of the Adjutant General, and the Public Assistance Unit, which was under the Office of Management and Budget
Summary
As a result of its location, the United States Virgin Islands (USVI), an island community of approximately 106 000 citizens, is at-risk for impacts from several coastal hazards. Located near the northeastern margin of the Caribbean tectonic plate, at the easternmost limit of the Greater Antilles Island chain, the islands lie approximately 150 km south of the Puerto Rico Trench and are bounded by the Anegada Passage to the east and by the Muertos Trench and Venezuela Basin to the south. These and other seismically active features as well as several active faults contribute to the region’s vulnerability to earthquakes and tsunamis. They are rated by the 1997 Uniform Building Code as a Seismic Zone 4 (IVI International, 2014)
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