MONTEGO BAY, St James — Sandals Resorts in the Montego Bay region, launched their disaster preparedness initiatives last week with an interactive two-hour exercise, highlighting various types of hazards and disasters, as well as steps to be taken in the event of a natural disaster.

The exercise, which engaged students from the Anchovy Primary School Red Cross Society, comes as even greater emphasis is being placed on disaster preparedness across the island with the onset of the Atlantic Hurricane Season.

During the exercise, Tamoy Sinclair, St James Parish Coordinator; Disaster Preparedness made a presentation to the students on the various types of natural disasters and what to do in the event of a hurricane, while a pointed pep talk by Acting District Officer, Winston Bailey and his team from the St James Fire Department, focused on fire prevention and safety.

The young students and future humanitarians were particularly enthralled by a tour and live demonstration of the Fire department’s Rescue Unit.

“In itself, Anchovy is a hub for surrounding communities like Roehampton and Mount Carey, which are all flood-prone areas,” said Sinclair, “and in the event of a natural disaster, the Anchovy Primary School is one of the emergency shelters within that area.”

The Anchovy Primary School has a current enrollment of over 1,000 students.

Sinclair further noted that “educating children within these areas, in particular, who live in and traverse these communities daily, is very important as the likelihood of them coming in contact with possible danger is even greater.”