Four thousand people in Puerto Vallarta ‘ran to save their lives’ in a tsunami drill

With the participation of almost 4 thousand people, a tsunami drill was held in downtown Puerto Vallarta on Tuesday, within the framework of World Tsunami Awareness Day.

Around 4,000 people participated in the exercise, of which at least 2,200 were students from three kindergartens and five primary schools in the downtown area, who at about 10:00 in the morning began the drill with the sounds of the city tsunami alarm sirens installed in the vicinity of the Cuale River.

During the drill, all 4,000 people successfully evacuated to higher ground within three minutes.

The Vice Admiral of the 8th, Naval Zone in Puerto Vallarta, Benjamin Narciso Mar Berman, at the end of the drill said he was pleased with the result, since “I am also fully convinced that the culture of prevention can be the best way to minimize the risks before an eventuality of an accident of different nature ”.

The naval command said that for subsequent drills, it will seek to be “little by little more ambitious,” until it can reach an evacuation of the entire area that could be affected by a phenomenon of this nature. The exercise Tuesday morning only covered the downtown area of ​​the city, where there are nearby high areas, however, outside of the center, an evacuation is complicated since there are no high altitude areas that can be accessed as quickly.

The drills are meant to educate the inhabitants of the area, and have full knowledge of what to do and where to go in the case of a tsunami. Arturo García Pulido, regional commander of the Jalisco State Civil Protection and Fire Department Unit, stressed that it is important to follow up on this type of simulation exercise. “To the drills, to the training of children, to training in the colonies.”

Adrián Bobadilla García, commander of Civil Protection and Firefighters of Puerto Vallarta, said that prior to the drill, recreational activities were carried out in 5 primary schools and 3 kindergartens in the downtown area, so that they become familiar with this type of disaster and learn about the risks to which we are exposed, thereby promoting the Civil Protection culture.