Civil Defence explains why CY Alert was sent to all residents of Cyprus at once

Cyprus Civil Defence sent an emergency CY Alert notification to all residents of the country on the day of the storm, 29 August, because by that time the bad weather had affected more than 60% of the island’s territory. Deputy spokesperson of the department Chara Lazarou told Politis radio.

According to her, the weather phenomena began at around 10:00, and throughout that time the service remained in constant contact with the duty forecaster of the Meteorological Service. While the bad weather was localised, the authorities limited themselves to routine announcements and self-protection advice.

Information that the storm had spread across more than 60% of the territory arrived at around 14:00. After that, the deputy head of Civil Defence contacted the chief of the Fire Service to clarify the operational situation and the number of calls to 112, and the Minister of the Interior was informed of the situation. The alert was sent at 14:15.

The alert was sent simultaneously across the entire government-controlled territory, rather than to individual districts, because by that time the bad weather had affected all areas. Lazarou explained that residents of unaffected areas might travel to places where the storm was already raging: “There were swimmers on the beaches, and there were cases in which people found themselves on the verge of drowning.”

Readiness had already been increased the previous day, when the yellow weather warning was upgraded to orange: regional offices were instructed to keep search-and-rescue teams, vehicles and equipment ready for immediate deployment. In the end, the Nicosia, Limassol and Famagusta offices were mobilised — 25 volunteers and six vehicles, which mainly pumped water out of flooded premises and basements.

Responding to complaints from those who did not receive the alert or received it late, Lazarou urged people to update their phones’ software. “In the event of a state-scale emergency, as this time, CY Alert notifications are mandatory and cannot be disabled,” she stressed.