AS El Niño conditions shape weather messaging in Tuvalu and Naoero, meteorological staff are working to deliver forecasts and hazard warnings in languages and formats communities can use, including on islands where internet access can fail.
At a Polynesian Sub-Regional Knowledge Brokers Training for National Meteorological and Hydrological Services hosted by SPREP in the Cook Islands, communications staff from the two Pacific countries described the practical limits of warning delivery: people who say they never received timely information, internet outages, technical bulletins and the challenge of reaching remote communities.
Tuvalu uses local language and backup links.
Simoea Tiute, communication officer at the Tuvalu Meteorological Service, said the office created the role in 2021 and can now disseminate information immediately, particularly during tropical cyclones and tsunami warnings.
“It’s very important,” Tiute said of communicating in both Tuvaluan and English. The service prepares statements and sends information to stakeholders in Tuvaluan, while its social media posts use both languages.
The service works with Tuvalu’s broadcast media, which Tiute said is the country’s ...