The Emergency Management Cook Islands (EMCI) hosted a three-day conference to identify areas for improvement in preparation for future cyclones.

Held at The Edgewater Resort and Spa, the conference was an emergency management pilot project, the first of its kind, with directors from disaster management offices in the region, including Fiji, Tonga and Nauru, in attendance.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in New Zealand facilitated and funded the project alongside EMCI.

EMCI director John Strickland explained that during the first two days of the conference, they engaged in an exercise related to a cyclone programme.

“This is very unusual, normally it takes months or a year to have this kind of preparation put into place but I was excited with the support of NEMA and our partners at SPC which is Fiji, to support us in this preparation in doing all this programme,” Strickland said.

“There is a need to have this put into place because we have not had any of these exercises for quite some time so this is actually a wake-up call for us to look at our existing plans whether it is up to stage, and capturing everything that is happening today.

“Ten to 15 years ago maybe but today, totally different with the change of impact with our depressions even with climate change. It’s another factor for us to be prepared for the unexpected.”

Jane Rovins, international leader for NEMA, explained that the conference was a robust opportunity for the Cook Islands, with close to 100 attendees including local EMCI staff and regional disaster management directors.

“We’re out here working as exercise controllers and facilitators along with some of our partners from across the New Zealand system in order to support the Cook Islands system and to achieve a successful exercise so that they can achieve some of John’s calls around understanding what’s working in the system,” Rovins said.

“We know there’s some successes going on but also there’s room for improvement so that if a cyclone were to come this year, the people of Cook Islands would be ready and be able to look after their communities and be successful and safe.”

Strickland added that the conference was also timely to update each ministry in the Cook Islands to improve preparedness going forward.

“With wars and conflicts happening across the world, Cook Islands’ emergency management team would like to involve and take part with the rest of the world in terms of awareness on climate change,” he added.

“This exercise will definitely show us some of the gaps that they may have missed and this will enhance and improve the development and preparation of the next special operation orders and plans they put together for the Cook Islands.”

The conference had 10 facilitators from NEMA, the New Zealand Defence Force, Fire and Emergency New Zealand, the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the South Pacific Community (SPC).