RUN FOR THE HILLS!

Tsunami scare sends Old Harbour Bay residents scampering

RESIDENTS OF Old Harbour Bay in St Catherine never got an official warning, neither were there any planned evacuations in place, but the news of a possible tsunami threat sent them scampering by the hundreds to higher ground in search of safety yesterday morning.

A magnitude 7.6 earthquake that struck in the Caribbean Sea dead centre between Honduras and The Cayman Islands on Tuesday night resulted in a tsunami warning being issued for Jamaica and other Caribbean islands, as well as sections of Central America and Mexico.

“It was quite something! People began converging at the emergency area just beside the

police station with their luggage and suitcases, and a huge crowd began moving north towards Old Harbour. I have never seen anything like that before,” said Old Harbour Bay resident Syvon Willis.

“I just grabbed a few suitcases and all the other kids in the yard with mi wife, and we start move out, too,” he said.

The only concern, according to Willis and another resident, Melba Harrison, was that there was no official warning as the tsunami emergency sirens never sounded.

“We were never going to wait to see if a real thing or not. Tsunamis are extremely dangerous. Mi jus grab and run for the hills,” Willis said.

DISPUTE OVER WARNING SYSTEM

An official at the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) said that the tsunami early warning system had indeed been triggered.

However, residents say that no warning sirens were heard, but they began spreading the word house-to-house when information about the potential danger was picked up on social media, including Facebook and Twitter.

“There was no alarm. Not even one, and is something wi used to, because last year alone, is three times dem run evacuation drill down here,” said resident Doneth Wright Henderson.

“All I know is that by the time we come outside and look, wi si nuff people already a run with dem bags and tings, but I said that me not leaving my husband. Him brave because him gone a sea when everybody a talk‘ bout tsunami a come,” she added.

“Di amount a suitcase mi si, mi t’ink seh a England di people dem a go,” Wright Henderson said with a laugh.

NORMAN GRINDLEY/CHIEF PHOTO EDITOR Ena Nembhard and her two-year-old granddaughter returned home to Old Harbour Bay, St Catherine, after leaving her house due to a tsunami scare on Tuesday night.

Doneth Wright Henderson told The Gleaner that she would not leave the Old Harbour Bay fishing beach during the tsunami warning on Tuesday night as her husband was still at sea.

EDITOR NORMAN GRINDLEY/CHIEF PHOTO Sergeant Henry Parkins of the Old Harbour Bay Police Station explaining the tsunami preparation that the station made.

Syvon Willis also vacated his home in Old Harbour Bay in St Catherine because of the tsunami scare.