Thirty-two countries* will participate in a full-scale tsunami alert exercise in the Caribbean on 20 March 2013. The goal is to test the reaction capacity in countries of the Caribbean and adjacent regions, including the East Coast of Canada and the United States, the Gulf of Mexico and Bermuda. The exercise was organized under the auspices of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC).

The activities proposed hereafter are still subject to the adoption of the financing decision ECHO/WWD/BUD/2013/01000

By Desmond Brown

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, Sep 26 2012 (IPS) - Prime Minister Dr. Denzil Douglas remembers how quiet – even uneventful – this tiny twin-island federation was for the first four decades of his life.

But over the past 10 years, St. Kitts and Nevis, as well as the rest of the Caribbean, have seen radical climatic shifts. There is no question in Douglas’s mind that these changes are the direct results of climate change.

By David Singh

GENEVA, 15 June 2012 - As the 2012 Atlantic Hurricane Season kicks off, all 16 member governments of the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) have committed for the sixth year in a row to renew their hurricane and earthquake insurance for 2012-2013 and earned themselves a 25% premium rebate.

Tuesday, May 22 - The United Nations Development Programme for Barbados and the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), through its Regional Risk Reductive Initiative (R3i), is hosting a three-day capacity building workshop to train participants in the use of Geographical Information Systems (GIS) for disaster management, land use planning and development.

GIS Officers Kahrim Skelton of the Town and Country Planning Department and Dillon Robin from the Water and Sewerage Department are participating in the workshop which commenced on Monday in the Cayman Islands.

Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, August 28, 2011 – The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) has announced that, while Hurricane Irene resulted in registered losses in six of its member countries (Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, the Bahamas, Haiti, St. Kitts & Nevis and the Turks & Caicos Islands), none of the policies of these countries were triggered. Of these territories, the highest losses were determined for the Bahamas and the Turks & Caicos Islands. None of the other four countries was impacted by more than lower Tropical Storm-force winds (under 50mph).

Bridgetown, Barbados, March 21, 2011 (CDEMA) - A full scale simulation tsunami alert exercise will be undertaken within the CDEMA system on Wednesday March 23, 2011. Exercise CARIBE WAVE 11 will assess the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System for the Caribbean and Adjacent Regions and the Model Standard Operations Procedures (SOPs) for the Tsunami and other Coastal Hazards Warning System developed for CDEMA Participating States.

CARIBE WAVE 11 was planned in partnership with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization's

16 September, 2010 - Today, the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) paid the

Government of Anguilla US$4,282,733 following the passage of Tropical Cyclone Earl which passed close to the island on 30 August, 2010. This amount was due to the Government based on its catastrophe insurance policy for hurricanes which forms part of the country's disaster risk management strategy. The value represents almost 20 times the annual premium of US$225,000 that the Government pays for hurricane coverage. Anguilla has been a member of CCRIF - and has had catastrophe insurance

Grand Cayman, 31 August, 2010 - The Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility (CCRIF) is preparing to make a payout to the Government of Anguilla as a result of Tropical Cyclone Earl which passed close to Anguilla and other islands in the northeastern Caribbean as a major hurricane yesterday.

Early reports indicate that Earl blew the roofs off of buildings and downed many power lines in Anguilla. Severe beach erosion and flooding have also impacted the island. Antigua & Barbuda and St Kitts & Nevis, both also covered by CCRIF policies,