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Where is the tsunami tidal wave warning system for the North Atlantic ?

Where is the tsunami tidal wave storm flood surge early warning system for the North Atlantic like the international warning system that exists in the Pacfic ?

Just because tsunami are rare in the Indian Ocean, the recent disaster there shows that we should not be complacent in Europe. There are active volcanoes waiting to explode or collapse into the sea, and earthquake zones in the seas and oceans around Europe, and the resultant tsunami can travel for thousands of miles.

There are lots of weather satellites and military systems watching the North Atlantic, but are any of them coordinated properly with local coast guards and the mass media to actually issue a warning of a forthcoming tidal wave in sufficient time to save lives ?

Can flood warning systems designed to cope with flooding caused by slow moving hurricanes etc. actually react speedily enough ?

What is the Civil Contingencies Secretariat doing about this ?

Where is the Digitally Signed and Authenticated system of alerts and emergency evacuation orders which is needed to save lives, in any of the fast moving natural disaster or terrorist or military incident scenarios which the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 is supposed to deal with ? How can you tell if such a warning is real or a hoax ?

Will any of our politicians or journalists bother to find out ?

Comments

Firstly,I really dont think that we should be meddling in other counties affairs.
They should take responsibility for ensuring that they have adequate defensive mechanisms, in place, knowing that they are situated in an earthquake zone.

Having said that, I too would like to know what measures are in place here in the uk for such a disaster, if any.


At a guess, there is a civil service report buried or shredded somewhere, which discusses this, but the Government have not bothered to fund any measures at all, passing the buck between different departments - no votes in tsunami warning systems in marginal contituencies inland.

There is nothing about tsunami or tidal waves on the Flooding section of the UK Resilience website, for instance.

http://www.ukresilience.info/flooding.htm

You could always consult the £8 million "Preparing for Emergencies" booklet for advice 8-)

http://www.preparingforemergencies.co.uk/

The Environment Agency Flood Map gives an idea of which areas would be affected by a tsunami which overwhelmed the coastal defences (England and Wales but nor Scotland)

http://maps.environment-agency.gov.uk/wiyby/

Obviously many parts of the UK are higher above sea level than the low lying islands in the Indian Ocean, but nevertheless, there are millions of people at risk, together with infrastructure used by the rest of the country such as ports, oil refineries, nuclear power stations etc.

The funnel like nature of many parts of our coastline also means that even modest tsunami (by the time they hit the UK) could still have damaging effects many miles inland away from the coast itself.

There are warning systems in place for storm surges e.g. when a big depression works its way down the North Sea coast, and coincides with a high tide, then London'e Thames Flood Barrier is raised, but these events have a much longer warning time available (usualy a couple of days) than tsunami caused by volcanic or earthquake activity along the North Atlantic Ridge, from Iceland down to the Azores.

It is worth cooperating with other North Atlantic counties to share alert information, and most of the links are already in place for scientific weather and eartquake sensor networks, it is only the dead hand of government bureacracies which sits between the scientists and the local coast guards and emergency services which prevents an effective warning system which, would reduce (but not totally eliminate) the number of casualties in the event of a tsunami.

How many UK Government officials and politicians and decision makers were at their desks and phones and computers on Boxing Day ?


Perhaps readers might care to comment on the opinion item at http://www.newsmedianews.com/comment.php

Rgds


I guess its every man for him/her self then.I was also peed off at the suggestion that the uk was not giving enough financial aid....but then I looked at the current exchange rate of the countries concerned and decided that the moaners had nothing to moan about.£1 goes a far way in thailand and those other countries....I wonder where the the money will be spent....in the uk or in other countries, where more value for money can be obtained.


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