Vice President Hussain Mohamed Latheef has visited the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Inouye Regional Centre in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The NOAA IRC is a state-of-the-art research facility built on the historic landmark site on Moku‘ume‘ume (Ford Island) in the State of Hawaii. This marks the first time a Maldivian Vice President visited the centres.
During the visit, the Vice President was briefed on the operations of the International Tsunami Information Centre (ITIC) and the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC). The centres offered a tour of the facilities and briefed the Vice President about the operations carried by the centres. The Vice President commended the excellent and invaluable service they are providing to the world and humanity. He also expressed gratitude for the continued assistance and services rendered to the Maldives and its people.
The PTWC and the ITIC played an instrumental role after the tsunami in 2004 and assisted Maldives in building the infrastructure, building the capacity and creating awareness about tsunami and disaster preparedness. They also assisted in establishing regional warning centres in the Asia-Pacific.
The ITIC maintains and develops relationships with scientific research and academic organisations, civil defence agencies, and the public to mitigate the hazards associated with tsunamis by improving tsunami preparedness. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre in Honolulu is administered by the National Weather Service (NWS) and is the primary international forecast centre for the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).