In a milestone for Caribbean coastal safety, the island of Barbuda, part of the twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, has formally achieved recognition as an official Tsunami Ready community, marking the culmination of years of coordinated planning, public engagement, and hazard mapping to protect local residents from tsunami-related threats.
Program representative Christa von Hillebrandt outlined the key technical work that laid the foundation for the designation at Wednesday’s official recognition ceremony. Through targeted hazard modeling conducted by safety experts, Sir McChesney George Secondary School was confirmed to sit outside the highest-risk tsunami inundation zone, qualifying the campus to serve as a designated safe evacuation hub for the island’s population. Von Hillebrandt explained that the modeling work verified that key elevated areas of the island would remain above projected flood levels in the tsunami scenario researchers analyzed, and these findings were used to create a public evacuation map that clearly guides residents to safe locations when warnings are issued.
The secondary school was also put to the test during a full community evacuation drill held as part of the certification process. During the exercise, participants initially set out on foot for the more distant safe location at Louis Hill, but organizers confirmed that the school was a sufficient and closer safe option, allowing the drill to validate the campus as a practical, accessible evacuation point.
Beyond infrastructure and mapping, the Tsunami Ready designation required Barbuda to complete a range of preparedness requirements, including installing clear directional evacuation signage, rolling out public education campaigns, and training community members on emergency response. Local students took a leading role in outreach efforts: students from Sir McChesney George Secondary School and nearby Holy Trinity Primary School participated in hands-on preparedness activities, and even collaborated to create an original music video designed to educate the broader community about core tsunami safety rules.
Local officials have emphasized that the formal recognition is not an endpoint for safety work, but a starting point for ongoing preparedness. Residents are being urged to memorize their assigned evacuation routes and regularly review response protocols for tsunami warnings to ensure they can act quickly when an emergency arises. Barbuda Council Chairman John Mussington announced that the island will fully participate in the regional Carib Wave tsunami exercise scheduled for next March, a large-scale training activity that will allow local emergency teams to test their response plans alongside other Caribbean nations and refine protocols ahead of any real-world event.