PHILIPSBURG--Hurricane Exercise 2018 “HUREX” will once again involve a major training exercise that will take place on June 26 between 8:30 and 10:30am. Residents and motorists will see an increase in emergency response vehicles (with sirens) on the roads en route to a simulated major incident.
Response to the simulation will include military and civil authorities such as police, ambulance, Fire Department, Voluntary Corps of St. Maarten and other emergency response services and non-governmental agencies. Motorists are advised not to be concerned with respect to the heightened emergency response activities, as these are part of the training exercise.
HUREX takes place on an annual basis and includes the 10 Emergency Support Functions (ESFs) of the country’s Disaster Management Organisation along with the Dutch military detachment based on the island and additional military resources and assets from overseas.
The exercise allows all relevant government agencies along with the military to familiarise themselves with operational protocols in the event of a disaster, in this case a hurricane threat/disaster. The exercise takes place under the banner of the Fire Department/Office of Disaster Management.
