Last week I mentioned, in passing, the issue of the current hurricane season that is now upon us.
I felt that I needed to come back to it this week, because of the importance of our being better prepared, given our recent experiences and our long history with the turbulent summer weather that sometimes comes our way out of the Atlantic. This will always be an important ongoing issue, because of the far reaching impact any storm of any magnitude can have on our society and on our way of life. But there is no cause for despair. With proper planning we can protect ourselves.
There is compelling evidence that Atlantic hurricanes are getting stronger and more intense, putting more people in catastrophic harm’s way. After last year’s experiences, we really hope and pray for the best. But we understand that these things are not totally under our control, or may not necessarily play out to our wishes and prayers. And so we must plan for the worst – as far as it is humanly possible to limit the impact of a storm.
And for this to happen there must be awareness at the individual level, at the family level, at the community level and indeed at the national level. Our preparations and our responses must be detailed and clear and must especially reach those who are not accustomed to listening.
The Government must play a more active role in improving that awareness – something that, with an approaching storm, can lessen the confusion, defuse the inbuilt panic and lead to better results.
The Government must also seek to upgrade, fine-tune and implement its disaster management plan; hopefully one that includes a comprehensive detailed proposal for evacuation from areas that could be vulnerable to flooding and sea surges.
I was shocked to learn recently that the impact of Irma on certain coastal areas remains to be assessed. In most storms – although not in those as extreme as Irma – there is often more destruction caused by water than by the winds. We can well remember Hurricane Lenny in that regard, and that it came from a different direction than we expected even.
During Irma, coastal properties in Sandy Hill, and in the Forest and Blowing Point areas, were ravaged by the high sea surges; surges unheard of even in the Hurricane Donna chronicles and context.
Anguillians have individually done a very good job over recent years in building more climate resilient houses –though we still have a way to go in that regard. But there are many in our communities who are still not up to speed, whether from lack of preparedness or from lack of resources.
For those people, who are even more vulnerable than the majority, the Government owes them, more than anyone else, the development and articulation of a plan that will ensure they know clearly all of the steps to take and all the clear plans of things to do just before, during and after a storm. This will not be accomplished merely by advertisements and radio warnings; those people need to be identified, visited and provided with helpful guidance, and in many cases with material assistance.
Right after Hurricane Irma I had the opportunity to go from community to community, often with other compassionate citizens concerned about their neighbours’ suffering. We compiled a first set of data and shared the information with relief agencies with a view to making relief available to all vulnerable persons. Indeed, Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson was very receptive to the ideas we put forward for the immediate post-recovery period to allow for a significant cash injection to be made available to secure several qualifying properties, especially those where roofs had been lost. I appreciate that our Government considered the monies better applied to critical infrastructure needs, and the engagement with the Minister for the Overseas Territories has effectively changed the focus away from private home owners. However, our Chief Minister has, as he is prone to do, put his focus on securing support for his customary budgetary expenditure, rather than address the vulnerabilities of our people and the increasing anxiety they have at their inability to secure already damaged homes and weakened structures. In the competing needs of infrastructures and people, we would have to fend for ourselves apparently.
There is a lot we can learn from our Caribbean neighbour Cuba concerning the best ways and means of managing impending or actual disasters. Cuba has an admirable record of saving lives and getting people out of harm’s way. The discipline, detail and intensity surrounding their plans and preparations should be a lesson for all of us – and should be something this, and any, administration should study. I want to invite the government to join me in starting a united national dialog on disaster preparedness.
We can also all use our positions to bring greater awareness about what measures could be taken in preparation. A new hurricane season has begun, even though we are yet to fully recover from the impact of the last one – and public buildings and places of shelter still remain in a compromised condition as a result. This is something that the planners must take into consideration in designing any plan. It is already late – but it’s better late than never.
To use some disaster management lingo – “let’s now rush to prepare”.
