THE Secretariat for the Pacific Community is hoping that specialised training on wave activity being conducted with the Fiji Meteorological Service will help in improving warnings for coastal communities.

Molly Powers-Tora, SPC’s Climate and Oceans Support Programme, regional officer said research funded by the European Union over the past three years had produced information that could assist coastal communities better prepare for unnatural wave events.

“One of the areas really vulnerable to this is the Coral Coast,” she said.

“We had a team led by oceanographer Dr Cyprien Bosserelle that had instruments in the water in Maui Bay.

“They have been measuring wave activity and been able to produce a really refined model of how different waves affect the coast, different types of wave run up and when the coast is more likely to have coastal inundation.”

Mrs Powers-Tora said the SPC was conducting training with the Fiji Met Service in the hope that the information would be incorporated into forecasts and warnings to alert the public of potential inundation events.

“This could be really useful for coastal protection and climate change adaptation projects.

“And it could also be very beneficial when building new infrastructure because the information could be used to inform people of where to build and which areas are more vulnerable.”