Hazard Management Cayman Islands announced details on Wednesday of a major regional exercise called Event Horizon 2025, part of which will be held in the Cayman Islands between 10-19 Jan.
Approximately 100 people, including regional military personnel and disaster managers, will be arriving in the Cayman Islands, and most will set up a command base at the Agricultural Grounds in Lower Valley.
Over the coming days, many of these people will be arriving on ships, including the Jamaican vessels HMJS Nanny of the Maroons and HMJS George William Gordon, and Bahamian vessel HMBS Lawrence Major.
“All military personnel involved are unarmed and specialise in humanitarian and disaster response,” said HMCI Director Dani Coleman.
Disaster-response and maritime-enforcement teams from 14 countries are taking part in the exercise, which has been organised by the Jamaica Defence Force in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
The humanitarian aid, disaster response and maritime law enforcement exercise is being hosted by HMCI as the coordinating agency for disasters in the Cayman Islands and also the Cayman Islands Regiment, which has a major role in transportation and logistical aspects of the exercise.
Several other local agencies are also involved, including the Cayman Islands Fire Service, the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service and the Cayman Islands Coast Guard, which will lead for the Cayman Islands on the search-and-rescue component.
“The exercise scenario relates to a twin otter aircraft going down in the sea between Little Cayman and Grand Cayman, and another component of the Event Horizon exercise relates to a damaging earthquake event occurring south of Grand Cayman,” said HMCI Mitigation Specialist Mark Codling.
Coleman added, “As a member of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA), a damaging earthquake or some other significant event in the Cayman Islands, like a major transportation accident or a hurricane, might cause the co-chairs of the National Hazard Management Executive (Cayman Islands Premier and Governor) to request the activation of the regional response mechanism through CDEMA.
“When this mechanism is triggered, other countries in the region send personnel and resources to assist the impacted country during the response and recovery process.”
HMCI wants to reassure residents who see increased activity and military personnel in the Cayman Islands that these are training exercises and not part of a real emergency.
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