HMCI launches direct messaging for disasters
(CNS): The Cayman Islands Government has launched a new mobile app under its National Emergency Notification System (NENS) that will allow direct messages to be sent to all residents who have subscribed in the event of a national emergency or a disaster. Developed by Hazard Management Cayman Islands (HMCI) and other stakeholders, the free app will deliver alerts directly by email or text. Residents and visitors can download the free app by going to nens.gov.ky.
HMCI Director Danielle Coleman said the department is continually working to increase the number of ways that emergency messages are delivered to the public.
“Emergencies can happen anytime, anywhere and without warning,” she said in a press release about the app. “HMCI has a number of methods by which we communicate with the public in emergencies, including by sending information to local media, posting to our website and social media sites, and the radio alert system established in collaboration with the Department of Public Safety Communications.”
The emergency alert will have details of the incident, such as what kind of incident it is, where it is primarily located if applicable, and when it occurred. It will also include any essential public safety messaging, such as instructions to stay away from the area or to seek higher ground.
NENS first test case will be a simulated tsunami exercise, which will be part of CARIBE WAVE, a regional exercise to develop and improve emergency responses. Registered subscribers will get a ‘test message’ on Thursday, 10 March.
Coleman said the Cayman Islands will use the tsunami exercise to test and improve the national tsunami warning system.
“Regular exercising of response plans is critical to maintain readiness for an emergency,” she said. “The simulated tsunami scenario will provide an opportunity for HMCI to exercise our operational lines of communications which includes the National Emergency Notification System, review our tsunami response procedures, and promote tsunami preparedness.”
Premier Wayne Panton said building a national culture of disaster preparedness and resiliency is a collective responsibility and he encouraged all Cayman Islands residents to subscribe to the mobile alert app.
“In a national emergency or disaster, safeguarding human life is of paramount importance,” he said. “We all have a role to play in following the official guidance from HMCI to prepare for emergencies but we can’t always predict when a disaster or emergency will happen. That’s why it’s important to download the new mobile app so you can stay informed and know what action to take to keep yourself and your loved ones safe in the event of a national incident.”.
How to get the app:
- Visit nens.gov.ky to opt-in to the service. Choose ‘app’ and provide your email to sign up.
- Download the AtHoc app, entering the email address you used to opt in to the service to verify and activate your account.
- AtHoc app will ask you for an organisation code. Your organisation code is HMCI. Press ‘send’.
- The screen will indicate you are now set up to receive notifications.
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Category: Local News
No advance warning system is going to save your sorry asses if a tsunami hits Cayman.
Almost had a heart attack this morning when they tested the Caribe Wave Tsunami warning. In an emergency if I sleep through that notification then I have got to be already dead.
A working Radar system would be very helpful in helping us know when weather is dangerous.
I don’t have data/internet on my phone. So would I only get the alert if I am sat at home connected to my wifi?
Can’t Flow and Digicel just send a mass SMS? Digi in particular like to spam everyone with random crap…
You can opt in to SMS, Email and the app as part of the registration \enrolment process so data should not be an issue (or lack of it)🙂
What’s the point of an opt in though? Just get the two service providers to message everyone, job done. This is just a waste of time/money
I commend Hazard Mgt for delivering this much needed system.
To the negative posters. Who will you blame for this?
It’s only 18 years after Ivan. Better late than never, I guess.
Alas, we don’t have any domestic data buoys and only limited NOAA assets for a regional Caribbean tsunami warning system. We haven’t even fully mapped the Cayman Trench. Better app is NOAA’s US Tsunami Warning Center (formerly Pacific Tsunami Warning Center) at tsunami.gov At least they have some reliable staff reviewing events 24/7.
Exactly, the dust will be settling before any warning gets through from HMC.
Good thing we have a fully operational and reliable state of the art weather radar!
Pleased to report that LIDAR flights were conducted for the inshore marine environment (for all three Cayman Islands) in 2021. This data is a necessary input for producing high resolution maps, that are the key for creating accurate tsunami wave run up models, and analyzing risks associated with storm surge.
NOAA provides tsunami alerts for the US mainland and US Islands only. All other Islands in the Caribbean Sea get their tsunami alert messages from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (PTWC).
Is there any evidence of there ever being a tsunami in the Caribbean? Aren’t our seas too deep for one to build up?
It is a great question and the answer has not been settled yet. We should have a much better idea of the risk (or lack thereof) when the inshore (LIDAR Bathymetry) maps are used to produce wave and surge models (NOAA has agreed to help with some of this work). It is correct that an extensive shallow shelf area is typically required to create the tsunami wave run-up, and it is possible that a very large amount of the water generated would displace around our relatively small Islands. However there are some areas where the shallow shelf area may be sufficiently wide that the assumption is placed in doubt. For example, even before accounting for the area beyond the reef to the drop off – the North Sound is a ten by ten mile body of shallow water with a maximum of 20 foot depth. It is potentially large enough to create a suitable wave run up environment. It should be noted that a series of large tsunami waves would reflect off neighbouring coastlines and underwater features, so all sides of the Islands would be vulnerable, not only the side facing the direction of the source of the event (such as the earthquake focal point). In the absence of clear and definitive analysis, we operate on the assumption that the tsunami hazard remains a threat.
Who is the lead scientist an Hazard Management and what are their qualifications?
Quick, everyone pull out your Blackberry.
Will it work on my Trio?
This could be useful if used in conjunction with the Fire and Traffic Department to route traffic around incidents or large public events. Granted those aren’t actually “hazards” but it would be a relief for people who’s lives revolve around traffic
There’s like 3 roads in Cayman, hence the traffic.
Here’s an alert. There will be traffic gridlock coming in to town from the eastern districts tomorrow morning from 7:00 to 9:30.
They could send out the alert for the Eastern approach roads every morning!
In other countries, critical alerts are pushed directly to all mobile phones without need for opt-in applications. HMCI and CIG realize that the uptake rate for this is likely to be low and cost-cutting to go a different route than industry standard may put lives unnecessarily at risk.
We have different phases of the system. First was the radio interrupt, the second was this App. We are working towards the system you are referring to (Cell Broadcast) which will push messages directly to any phone in reach of a cell tower (even if it is not on the local network).
We are pleased to report we had nearly one thousand successful sign ups on the first day of the launch yesterday, and we hope with time there will be many more people signing up.
We welcome comments but it should be noted that very few countries globally have a cell broadcast system: it is quite expensive and there are many hurdles to cross including with data protection etc.
We are a small team of (currently) 7 individuals at HMCI trying hard to make steady progress across many areas. We feel this App is another useful communications tool to help us reach as many people as possible in a crisis, and we are glad to get it launched.
Better not be spamming my phone with your nonsense.
Trying hard? Are you guys charity volunteers, or are we explicitly paying your dept for 2000-3000 hours of effort? KYD$1,625,596 budgeted for 2022 and KYD$1,830,477 budgeted for 2023 for this. The CARIBE WAVE 22 dummy message test for Northern Panama Scenario goes out tomorrow at 9am and HMCI’s NENS video has just 279 views since Feb 22. The participant handbook requested that countries get on this and start preparing 2 months ago. If this is the peak collective effort for those dollars, then, respectfully, we may need to repost those seven positions before an actual life-threatening emergency.
https://www.weather.gov/media/ctwp/TS-170_Vol1_eo.pdf
Page 69:
https://cnslibrary.com/wp-content/uploads/2022-23-Plan-and-Estimates.pdf
Lucky we don’t need a radar. How long has it been down now?
And what about the mosquito plane? MRCU, can you update on what is going on there?
Hi Simon, can you clarify the data protection concerns with cellular broadcast? It’s indiscriminate outbound communication with legitimate purpose so insofar as I can tell, that just sounds like a poorly attributed excuse. We’re one of the wealthiest places in the world, so to the point that it’s expensive and few countries broadly use it – you’re right, but the ones that do are those with resources (like us). Further to that end (aside from the implication that the business case for this must have made a calculation our safety wasn’t worth the cost), wouldn’t the eventual implementation mean that the cost for this app will end up being limited in use only until that is done? To me, that will actually be a deterrent to advancing to the better system because it will mothball the current app. Lastly, how does HMCI intend to communicate to non-residents in the event of critical emergencies? This app isn’t going to provide any information to them for the duration of their visit, so guess they can just get caught unaware?
You are absolutely right that the cell broadcast would be much more efficient at getting messages to non residents such as visiting cruise pax and stay over tourists, as the alerts would come directly to handsets within range of a tower. Persons with over seas area codes can sign up for the App (and their number automatically drops off the system in 60 days). The problem will be how will visitors become aware that the App even exists so that will be an ongoing communications challenge for us to address. In relation to the data protection issue we are still working through that, but one of the issues could be related to locational data – it is possible to target phones in specific areas (which can be useful for a hazardous materials spill etc. or trying reach persons living in vulnerable coastal homes if there is a storm surge threat) but the data protection act requires that persons be notified how we process their data and they have to give their consent to how their information is used. It is possible that the data protection legislation can all be worked through relatively easily but we still have to do that, and the phone numbers are in possession of private companies not in Government’s control. It sounds like you have a good understanding of some of these issues, so maybe you can support and help us progress in this area – we depend on volunteers to fulfill our mission and it sounds like you have knowledge and skills that we could use too – so maybe you can reach out to us.
Did you just solicit a VOLUNTEER to do the jobs of which you are all supposedly expertly qualified to do and are, evidently by this app, overpaid to carry out?
That’s FREE work from someone that has skills AND knowledge both of which you and your 7 human team seem to lack.
Disgusting. Seven of you!?
Volunteer…. I hope whomever oversees your position is reading each and every comment here which illustrates, clearly, yours and your 7 human team’s ineptitude.
Take a look at yesterday’s CNS Invest Cayman BS RFP to pull yet another dinosaur through her job and read the comments:
https://caymannewsservice.com/2022/03/ministry-pr-dept-seeks-marketing-consultants/
I am embarrassed for you.
Who made the money building your app, Mr Boxall?
Will there be advertisements in the future?
What about updates as technology inevitably moves forward? Will this be another app sitting on the shelf without someone to do the updates necessary to support both new and older operating versions? Not everyone has the latest and greatest.
Most places skip right over the app, as an “emergency” public disaster should not be a buy in for someone to collect others data.
Also, with seven people, much more than an opt in app should be getting done.
What, pre tel, do you expect people without cell phones to do?
Who made the money building your app, Mr Boxall?
Answer – The UK Government paid Blackberry AtHoc and the local vendor Story Studio
Will there be advertisements in the future?
Answer- No
What about updates as technology inevitably moves forward? Will this be another app sitting on the shelf without someone to do the updates necessary to support both new and older operating versions? Not everyone has the latest and greatest.
Answer – No – The App sits on the Blackberry AtHoc Platform which is the critical event management software for 75 Percent of US federal Government Employees and many public safety and law enforcement agencies. It is impossible to give guarantees but it is almost certain that regular updates will occur.
Most places skip right over the app, as an “emergency” public disaster should not be a buy in for someone to collect others data.
Answer: The data protection act requires that people agree to how their information will be used and we agree with that. Their information will be used for emergency alerts only.
Also, with seven people, much more than an opt in app should be getting done.
Answer: Yes a lot more is getting done in many other areas.
What, pre tel, do you expect people without cell phones to do?
Answer: The App is just latest addition in a variety of platforms we use to communicate critical information to as many people as possible. We try to use as many methods as possible and are working to increase our reach and capacity. The media is obviously a key partner in getting information out as well, but we use print, social media, our website, the radio interrupt system etc.- for a period of time during the pandemic we even had vehicles moving through communities with public address systems. If necessary and in certain situations we may use the UHF Radio System to ask first responders to go door to door. It is hard to guarantee every person will get the information they need in every type of critical situation but we try to adapt to the way people receive and consume information.
Thanks for this long needed service. I tried to set up last night but found that the app requires Blackberry service so I will make do with SMS and email.
It’s name it’s Blackberry AtHoc and I successfully installed it on my iPhone yesterday
As of this morning, the app is stuck .. it’s sent several verification emails but isn’t moving on with infestation despite having verified the emails.
The reviews of the app are not confidence inspiring.
Please ensure you go to the website first and register by completing form. Please check box privacy notice, thereafter click submit.
https://nens.gov.ky/athoc_registration_form.html
Download the app from the store – Blackberry Athoc
• Open the Blackberry AtHoc app on your device.
• On the registration screen, enter your email address and hit send. This must be the same email address used to opt-in.
• Check your email for a link from the Blackberry AtHoc system administrator to activate your account.
• Click verify now. Verify Now
See manual attached and video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CfuIfDZIDEk
4. ENTER THE CODE
• Once your email address has been verified, open the Blackberry AtHoc app and enter the organization code.
• The organization code is HMCI
• Press Send. The screen will indicate that you are now set up to receive notifications.
You can also contact us at nens@gov.ky
No disrespect, Simon, but that all seems really difficult for the users. Did you really need to put in all that stuff to make it function, or was it for marketing purposes?
Hi Guido – absolutely no marketing gimmicks – the information will only be used for critical public safety messages. The Blackberry company has now transitioned to a secure Government communications platform. The architecture of the app makes it very resilient and hard to hack but unfortunately the design means there are a couple of extra steps to get the app (than what we are used to). It should be noted that the email is stored on a secure server in the UK to ensure that robust data protection laws and measures apply.
Robust data protection!?
That’s impossible in today’s world.
Read the news and stop repeating sound bites, it makes you look even more unqualified for your position.
Loads of disrespect here. The app stalled multiple times on my phone. This isn’t user friendly at all.
Anyone test this process prior to launch
#WorldClass
Will they be send out a message as the first cruise ship nears the dock?
How long do you think the mobile and internet networks will be up during a disaster?
Literally thick AF
Cable & Wireless cellular stayed running thru hurricane Ivan
with barely a drop-out, most of its towers remained serviceable and have since been upgraded in recent years to withstand as-high winds, or above.
Are they submersible too?
I’m you sure about that? Service was spotty at best from my recollection
Clearly you know little about the subject, looks like you might be ‘thick AF’
25 years running a telecommunications network, I’d say yep I know. THICK AF