Commissioner Ángel Jiménez of the Emergency Management and Disaster Administration Bureau (NMEAD) defended the protocol followed by authorities after a tsunami warning was issued for Puerto Rico on Wednesday, following earthquakes in Venezuela. Jiménez acknowledged areas for improvement, including the lack of warning sirens in 44 coastal municipalities. Ernesto Rodríguez, director of the National Meteorological Service (SNM) in San Juan, explained that the warning issued was not an alert, which is why mobile notifications were not sent to devices.
Rodríguez noted that an alert would have triggered notifications to mobile devices, but this process takes five minutes. Jiménez expressed satisfaction with the public's response, citing social media posts advising against evacuating unless necessary. The NMEAD commissioner also recognized that five municipalities, including Cabo Rojo, lack warning sirens, but emphasized that municipalities have other alert mechanisms, such as vehicles with sirens or loudspeakers.
The municipalities are identifying federal funds to acquire sirens for areas that lack them.