The first Emergency Center for Tropical Cyclones in Mexico has opened on the southern coast of Jalisco. The building is a multifunctional unit that also meets all the requirements of a fixed temporary shelter.
The building has the capacity to withstand strong winds, the impact of a category 5 hurricane and an earthquake of magnitude 9.
It can accommodate 150 people in bedrooms with bunk beds, air conditioning, and toilets, however, its capacity is to shelter 300 people.
“The main idea is to be able to house people here in a contingency, the building is made anti-seismic and anticyclonic, because we are in a highly seismic and cyclone zone. The temporary shelters used here are schools, churches and more, which do not comply with the needs and requirements of a temporary shelter,” said Arón González Gallardo, Regional Commander of the State Unit for Civil Protection and Fire.
All the areas of the center are designed so that they can be reconditioned as bedrooms, in case it is required to house more people.
The emergency center has a heliport, a crisis room, dormitories, training rooms, offices, an auditorium of 200 square meters and rooms for various uses.
It will also provide attention and service to populations at risk in the state of Colima.
“The idea is that, this part can be regional, this building can be regional, when it is not working as a temporary shelter, it will be operating as training rooms”, said Arón González Gallardo, Regional Commander of the State Unit of Civil Protection and Fire.
The coastal strip shared by the states of Colima and Jalisco is continually impacted by tropical cyclones.
“Obviously in a context of climate change, of global temperature increase, you will have stronger and probably more common events and it is true that in recent years, this area has been affected and I hope that this type of center helps things happen with more prevention and with more care,” said Gilles Jean Michel Arfeuille, a researcher at the Faculty of Environmental Sciences of the University of Colima.
“From here, the tsunami warning system will be operating, and it will be fully equipped to be doing the activations in Puerto Vallarta,” explained Arón González Gallardo, regional commander of the State Unit of Civil Protection and Fire.
The building is located in the Regional Base of Cihuatlán in the town of Melaque, Jalisco, and is ready to take on functions.
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