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An Emergency-Responder Motorcade will kick off the 2011 All Hazards Preparedness Expos set for Thursday at Sunny Isles Amphitheater on St. Croix and Friday at the Tutu Park Mall on St. Thomas.
The motorcade is a demonstration of Virgin Islands emergency responders’ readiness to respond to hazards that may impact the Territory, and will include the VI Police Department, the VI Fire Services, the VI National Guard’s 23rd Civil Support Team, Search and Rescue, Emergency Medical Services and the Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA). All of the sirens and lights on the first responder vehicles will be operating during the motorcade.
On St. Croix, at 1:30 p.m. on Thursday, the motorcade will begin at Fort Christian and wind its way through downtown Christiansted and onto North Shore Road to Estate Bethlehem. From Estate Bethlehem the motorcade will enter the Queen Mary Highway and makes it way to Frederiksted. The motorcade will then make a U-turn onto Melvin Highways to Sunny Isles where 2011 All Hazards Preparedness Expo is being held.
On Friday at 1:30 p.m., the St. Thomas motorcade will begin at VITEMA Headquarters in Estate Nisky and will travel through Veterans’ Drive and up Raphune Hill to the Tutu Park Mall, where the expo there is being held.
“The motorcades not only show our readiness to serve in times of disaster but also our continuing partnership in ensuring that our community is resilient,” VITEMA Director Elton Lewis said.
The 2011 All Hazards Preparedness Expo is part of VITEMA’s effort to heighten awareness about being prepared for the hazards that may impact the Territory. The theme of this year’s expo is “Empowering the Community,” and reflects both the public and private sector’s collective mission of arming our community with information necessary to properly prepare for and respond to disasters, whether natural or manmade, early warning or no-notice.
A number of local and Federal government agencies along with voluntary organizations and private sector vendors are slated to participate in the annual event. Among the participants are the Department of Human Services which has oversight of shelters, the Office of the Lieutenant Governor’s Banking and Insurance Division, the VI Water and Power Authority, the VI Police Department, the American Red Cross, Search and Rescue, the VI National Guard, the Puerto Rico Seismic Network and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
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