MAJOR RISK PREVENTION - Installation of warning sirens in the territory!

Installation of alert sirens in the territory!

Marigot, Monday May 9, 2022: Don't panic if you hear sirens sounding, this is a test! Indeed, three Population Alert and Information System (SAIP) sirens will be installed in the territory of Saint-Martin, between May 17 and 20, 2022, by the company EIFFAGE. This first phase of installation will allow the districts of Marigot, Quartier d'Orléans and Grand-Case to be equipped with SAIP sirens.

On the day of receipt of the installations, the sirens will sound a first cycle. Recognizable by a rising and falling sound, the alert signal connects three cycles of this ringing separated by 5-second intervals. In a real situation, upon hearing it, the population must apply reflex safeguarding behaviors such as staying safe and staying informed.

What are the characteristics of the signals?

Monthly tests: 1 sequence of 1 minute and 41 seconds on the first Wednesday of each month at noon;

Alert signal: 3 sequences of 1 minute and 41 seconds , separated by silence;

End of alert signal: continuous sound for 30 seconds

It is useful to know that tests will be carried out monthly, in order to ensure the maintenance of the proper functioning of the population alert and information systems (SAIP). As in mainland France, it will be the first Wednesday of each month, at noon.

Reminder of the general instructions for behavior in the event of an alert

At the signal, you must:

* Immediately enter an enclosed area, preferably without windows, carefully blocking openings if possible (slots, doors, vents, chimneys, etc.)

* Turn off air conditioning, heating and ventilation

* Listen to the radio

What not to do:
< br />* Stay in your vehicle;

* Pick up children from school (teachers are trained to ensure their safety)

* Call (networks must remain available for emergency assistance)

* Stay close to the windows

* Open the windows to find out what is happening outside

* Turn on any flame (risk of explosion)

* Leave your shelter without instructions from the authorities

As a reminder:

Following the passage of major hurricanes in September 2017, the Overseas Blue Book validated the principle of deploying the Population Alert and Information System on our territory. The SAIP is a set of tools allowing the dissemination of a signal or message by the authorities. Its objective is to alert the population exposed, or likely to be exposed, to the consequences of an imminent or ongoing serious event, a natural threat (cyclone, tsunami, flood, landslide, etc.) or technological (industrial , biological).

This system is a means of alert that can be triggered remotely from Paris or the prefecture of Saint-Martin/Saint Barthélemy. The decision then comes from the Operational Center for Interministerial Crisis Management (COGIC), a command body for civil security crisis management, under the supervision of the Ministry of the Interior.

Locally, the President of the Saint-Martin Community can also sound the alarm manually, from a control box, as part of his prerogative to safeguard the territorial population.