This is not just a tsunami drill but a serious business
Struggling to pick up the pieces following Cyclone Gita, the small Pacific island nation of Tonga focuses on preparing their schools for natural hazards.
Hitting Tonga earlier this year, Cyclone Gita caused severe damage throughout the country and affected 75 per cent of the population.
The next cyclone season is about to start, and the forecast is equally scary.
In every 2–3 years, strong earthquakes trigger tsunami alerts that bring back memories of the last tsunami in 2009.
Back then, six-meter-high waves smashed over a remote island of Niuatoputapu, claiming 10 lives and demolishing most of the infrastructure.
Building resilience to natural hazards and climate change is among Tonga’s most pressing development challenges.
School preparedness is a priority
To increase the resilience of populations vulnerable to natural disasters, and to strengthen the resilience of infrastructure, including schools, are the two main priorities of the disaster risk management agenda of Tonga.
When the UN Development Programme (UNDP) started implementing a regional project on strengthening school tsunami preparedness in 18 Asia-Pacific countries, Tonga was selected due to its high vulnerability and increasing number of incidents of natural hazards.
Funded by the Government of Japan, the project partnered with Tonga’s National Emergency Management Office (NEMO), Ministry of Education, Tonga Police and Red Cross who helped to plan the drill with the objective of identifying possible gaps in a school’s emergency preparedness.
New evacuation routes
In Tonga, schools are traditionally built on the beach, a few meters from the ocean. The road in and out the school meanders along the coastline. In times of a tsunami, these roads are a death sentence.
The most important outcome of the tsunami drill exercise was a survey that identified a lack of safe evacuation routes from the schools that lie at the waterfront.
“As a result, a new route was built that allowed the children to exit the school away from the ocean,” said Manu ‘Akau’ola, Deputy CEO, Ministry of Education.
“The new road leads to the top of the hill, that is the highest, thus, the safest place in the entire island. It is wide enough for students to run up together. I think that establishment of this new evacuation route was one of the most significant outcomes of the drills,” explains Milika Tuita, UN Coordination Specialists for UNDP Pacific office in Tonga.
Prevent and prepare
“Ta pe lango kei mama’o or cut timber to dock your boat when storm is far” said Hon. Governor of Vava’u, Lord Fakatulolo at the school drill emphasizing the importance of timely preparations for disasters.
He urged students participating in the drills to pay attention and remember what they have learned because tsunami waves can arrive at Tonga with less than a 15-minute warning. “Then you need to run for your life, Si’i pe lele ‘a kaiha’a,” Lord Fakatulolo said.
A total of 834 students in Tongatapu, Vava’u and Ha’apai learned about natural hazards and got to know how to safely escape from danger zone to safe area.
Newly obtained first aid skills and awareness to notice warning signs will help them survive any natural hazard in the future.
“I remember clearly that those students looked worried and excited at the same time. Especially, when they first heard the siren. Some of the students started crying because of the tensed situation. I could see that they were taking the drill very seriously. When the evacuation started, they ran and ran, which really made me think that this is not a drill, this is a serious business,” recalls Milika Tuita.
