Early Warning & Emergency Operation Centre opens in Ha’apai [1]
Tuesday, November 17, 2020 - 17:28
A new Multi-Hazard Early Warning and Emergency Operation Centre was officially opened in Pangai, Ha’apai, on 13 November.
The centre cost over TOP$1 million and aims to strengthen early warning and preparedness for any approaching hazard.
In commissioning the centre, Prime Minister Hon Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa said it was a milestone for the Ha’apai Group.
“We cannot go against nature but we can decrease its impacts through technology that this office is equipped with.”
The centre serves as a joint office for the Meteorology and Disaster Management Departments of MEIDECC. It is connected directly to the Fua’amotu Weather Forecasting Centre and the NEMO Office in Nuku’alofa through fibre optic technology.
This means if there is no internet connection, it operates as a virtual local area network allowing information to continue to be shared between MET and NEMO offices on Tongatapu and Ha’apai.
The Ha’apai Centre is the first significant deliverable of the first phase under the Pacific Resilience Program (PREP) project, to improve Multi-Hazard Early Warnings Systems.
Similar Offices are being established at Vava’u and Tongatapu as a way to establish a resilient information network base for responding to natural hazards.
Communications cut
When Tropical Cyclone Gita hit Tonga in 2018, there was a point where the Meteorology Office could not perform its warning function to the country due to damaged office infrastructure.
However, according to MEIDECC the joint Warning and Response Centres being established will ensure that communications failure will not be repeated.
Director of Meteorology, ‘Ofa Fa’anunu told Matangi Tonga that seven staff will operate the Ha’apai centre.
He added “we are looking to establish more disaster preparedness activities in the sub regional level at Ha’apai, Eua, Vava’u and the Niuas”.
Meanwhile, associated work includes upgrading the Tonga Maritime Radio Network by the end of 2021, reviewing the law, and pursuing the establishment of a multi-hazard early warning policy for Tonga to form a common direction of how to respond to warning events as a country.
The construction of the Ha’apai Center was co-funded by the World Bank, Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR).
On 14 November, the Prime Minister and some Government Cabinet Ministers attended a National Fasting and Praying service.