The virgin islands territorial emergency management agency (VITEMA) aims to advance tsunami preparedness, hazard assessment, and community preparedness within the U.S. Virgin islands (USVI) via the…

The Virgin Islands Territorial Emergency Management Agency (VITEMA) received a $325,293 Project Grant from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) under the Meteorologic and Hydrologic Modernization Development program (CFDA 11.467), effective September 1, 2025, through August 31, 2026. The grant supports eight coordinated initiatives to advance tsunami preparedness and hazard assessment across the U.S. Virgin Islands, including participation in National Tsunami Hazard Mitigation Program (NTHMP) meetings and delegation activities; stakeholder engagement and outreach; technical assistance for the territorial tsunami program; development and dissemination of public service announcements and educational materials; human factors assessment for tsunami readiness; and creation of a tsunami hazard management and community preparedness toolkit.

Additionally, the grant funds the deployment of tsunami software to strengthen organizational capacity for early warning and emergency response coordination. These deliverables align with NOAA's programmatic objective to promote tsunami resilience and mitigation measures at the state, territorial, and local government levels, with particular emphasis on reducing the impact of tsunamis through hazard assessment, warning guidance, and community preparedness initiatives specific to the territorial context of the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The virgin islands territorial emergency management agency (VITEMA) aims to advance tsunami preparedness, hazard assessment, and community preparedness within the U.S. Virgin islands (USVI) via the following priorities. Task 1: nthmp and subcommittee meetings, delegation meetings, travel task 2: outreach and meetings with stakeholders task 3: technical assistance for the USVI tsunami program task 4: public service announcements and tsunami awareness commercials task 5: reproduction of educational /outreach materials task 6: human factors tsunami ready preparedness assessments task 7: tsunami hazard management, preparedness toolkit, and community preparedness development task 8: tsunami software to support capacity strengthening