Civil defence explains CY-Alert issued during yellow weather warning
Civil defence said the preventive nationwide CY-Alert was issued after severe weather in western Cyprus was forecast to spread eastward.
Nicosia, Cyprus. Civil defence on Friday defended its decision to send a preventive CY-Alert during a yellow weather warning, after the nationwide notification reached areas that recorded no rainfall.
Spokesman Panayiotis Liasides said the message was issued as a “public safety message” rather than an emergency alert accompanied by a siren.
Decision based on forecast
Liasides said civil defence consulted the meteorological service before issuing the notification.
“We spoke with the met office, and given the situation, it was judged necessary to send the message. It was not, however, an emergency message”, he said.
He said the decision followed severe weather already recorded in Akamas and Polis Chrysochous, with forecasts indicating that conditions would move east from Paphos towards Famagusta.
Rainfall records
Rainfall data showed that some areas covered by the alert received little or no rain in the 24 hours that followed. The Athalassa station in Nicosia and Limassol port recorded zero rainfall, while Paphos airport recorded 0.3 millimetres.
The heaviest rainfall was recorded in the west, with nearly 24 millimetres in Kathikas and about 26 millimetres at Larnaca airport. A flight bound for Larnaca was temporarily diverted to Paphos.
Future alerts assessed individually
Liasides said yellow warnings would not automatically result in an alert message, with each case to be assessed individually.
He acknowledged that frequent notifications could reduce public attention over time.
“What matters is that people read the message and, if there’s nothing they need to do and it’s purely for information, they’ve been informed and that’s where it ends”, he said.
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