On September 19, Civil Protection and Firefighters in Puerto Vallarta will carry out annual drills to practice emergency response techniques during earthquakes and tsunamis.
The drills are carried out on this day throughout Mexico each year, marking the devastating earthquake in 1985, and then again on September 19, 2017.
The purpose of the drills in Puerto Vallarta is intended, among other things, to evacuate people that are concentrated in the areas of Olas Altas, centro, and other coastal areas of the city at the moment an earthquake or tsunami strikes.
After participating in the third report of the Civil Protection, Risk Management and Fire Commission, Bobadilla García informed that, for the realization of this drill, the departments under his command will be coordinating with the three orders of government in matters of civil protection, security and those that are related to citizens in Puerto Vallarta.
For this exercise, the city has been divided into four sectors: the Northern Hotel Zone, Centro, Olas Altas, and the Southern Hotel Zone.
In the hotel zones, hoteliers have been asked to carry out drills on their own to prepare staff, as they have done in past events through their internal civil protection brigades.
This time it is intended that the coastal strip of the city center, as well as in the area of Olas Altas, citizens and businesses will participate in the simulation and evacuation of the area, moving towards the upper part of the city, this in order to simulate the actions leading, first, to the earthquake of 7.6 degrees and the subsequent tsunami warning with a wave of 7.5 meters high. There is an estimated time of evacuation between 11-14 minutes in this scenario.
“We seek to promote a culture of prevention and for that, we hope that many people will participate,” said Bobadilla García, who added that in the next few days they will be distributing leaflets to invite the people of Vallarta to participate.
The people of Vallarta are aware of the risks that exist when living on the coast, as well as the actions they have to carry out, however, the practice of these actions reinforces this culture, said the head of Civil Protection.
