Costa Rica already has its first community prepared for tsunamis: Ostional in Santa Cruz, Guanacaste.
This is the second community in the entire Pacific basin of America to receive this recognition, since the first was Cedeño in Honduras. It is also the result of the joint work of the Costa Rican Sea Level Observing Network Program (RONMAC) of the National University and the National Commission for the Prevention of Risks and Emergency Care (CNE).
On May 12th, members of the Ostional Community Emergency Committee were awarded the “Tsunami Ready” award from the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission / United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (IOC) / UNESCO and the International Tsunami Information Center (ITIC).
On Saturday, the community received the necessary labeling that identifies it as such.
Silvia Chacón, from the RONMAC-UNA Program explained that this recognition is given to communities that meet certain tsunami prevention criteria in mitigation, awareness and response.
Some of the requirements are a tsunami evacuation maps, prepared by the RONMAC-UNA Program and signage of evacuation routes and areas to be evacuated, which were provided by the CNE.
On February 15th, a tsunami drill was carried out in Ostional, where 100 people participated in the exercise and the responsiveness of the Committee and the inhabitants was tested. The CNE, the Municipal Committee of Emergencies of Santa Cruz and the Communal Committee of Ostional participated in the drill.
As part of the preparation for more communities against tsunamis, during the month of July, the RONMAC Program and the CNE held a series of talks on Tsunami Prevention with the Quepos and Garabito Municipal Emergency Committees, as well as Workshops on Mapping Evacuation Routes for the communities of Uvita, Hermosa and La Colonia in Osa, Esterillos and Bejuco in Parrita, Quebrada Amarilla, Playa Hermosa and Pochotal de Garabito, and Tivives de Esparza.