Products : Public Early Warning System (EWS) : Case Studies : Volcanic Alerts
Case Study: Volcanic Alerts
“This volcano can erupt with little or no warning with very dangerous pyroclastic flows, so we need to be able to immediately warn residents at anytime.” says White. “The early warning solution provided by 2wcom let us alert specific areas or the entire island in just a few seconds – even if main power is lost.”
In the spring of 2008, Montserrat completed deployment of the emergency solutions platform for alerting residents of volcanic activity. The 2wcom early warning solution uses RDS (Radio Data System) technology to trigger alerts and pass critical text and voice information to targeted groups of 2wcom receivers including homes, schools and critical agencies at risk during an eruption. In May 2008, the DMCA began testing the system by continuously alerting residents and tourists when the Soufriere Hills volcano showed signs of activity.
During the on-going volcanic eruptions from the Soufriere Hills Volcano on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the Disaster Management Coordinating Agency (DMCA) has been using 2wcom’s emergency solutions platform that provides a multi-hazard alert system to inform residents about the various risks posed by the volcano.
DMCA officials access the hardware to send multi-hazard alerts using RDS data, which is broadcast by two of Radio Montserrat’s transmitters which reach the entire population on the island.
