10 Oct 2018

Wave warning system for Tuvalu

3:17 pm on 10 October 2018

Tuvalu has received a new wave forecasting system to help predict tides and sea surges across its nine atolls.

Flooding in Tuvalu after Cyclone Pam.

Flooding in Tuvalu after Cyclone Pam. Photo: Plan International Australia

The high resolution modelling system and equipment were handed over to the Tuvalu government by the region's scientific agency, the Pacific Community (SPC), at a ceremony in Tuvalu yesterday.

The project is a response to devastation in Tuvalu caused by Cyclone Pam in 2015.

More than 300 people had to be evacuated after waves crashed across the low-lying country without significant warning.

The SPC said the equipment would help Tuvalu's Land & Survey Department and Meteorological Service provide the public with better information more quickly.

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