Disaster preparedness must start now

THE EDITOR: Etched in our minds is the devastation of last year’s merciless hurricanes as they cut a trail of death, destruction and fear across the Caribbean en route to the United States. Of particular concern to Trinbagonians was Ivan, which seriously threatened Trinidad and took lives in Tobago and Grenada, severely ravaging the spice island. Once again TT was spared nature’s full wrath. And even as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) claimed to be prepared, the citizenry shuddered to think of what would have become of TT if they had to endure a constant deluge of rain for five hours coupled with over 120mph winds. Given the mayhem that transpires now with one hour of hard rainfall and 40mph winds, we can get the grim picture.

Around midnight on September 6, 2004, the eve of Ivan’s perceived impending doom, I placed a call to NEMA inquiring about hurricane shelters in my area. As a resident of Mt Lambert I was given a total of three possible locations that were in Barataria, Champ Fleurs and St Joseph. Being closer to Mt Hope than any of the mentioned alternatives and believing that a Junior Secondary school would make an ideal shelter, I then specifically asked about the Mt Hope Junior Secondary School. The female official advised that the school was not on her list of shelters and could not give the confirmation I required. The next day reports conveyed that the school was indeed a designed shelter. So there’s one faux pas telling us that NEMA was not ready for the impending disaster.

The question is, will they ever be? The hurricane season will be here again in just over two months. Based on that fact coupled with widespread perceptions that presently, TT will be doomed in the event of any national disaster, it appears that NEMA must develop and implement new effective disaster preparedness strategies — in haste. In this regard, I feel that the public should assist by putting ideas forward and so I humbly offer my “two cents” worth. Apart from the usual advisories for securing life and property, I am proposing that the following measures be adopted to further assure hurricane preparedness. NEMA must identify adequate shelters for public safety and ensure that they are indeed safe by following their own guidelines for assessing potential buildings.

However, I hasten to add that one new mandatory element for shelters should be that the buildings and their roofs must be made strong enough to resist 150mph winds. I recall reports of the roof blowing off of a shelter in Jamaica during Ivan’s onslaught. Let us learn from that lesson. At election time business places throughout TT are furnished with a listing of the electorate for the district and their respective polling stations. So that for several weeks prior to elections day voters are cognizant of the building in which they are to vote. For hurricane preparedness, a similar listing named, “Shelter Assignments,” should be developed and displayed in business places as well.

These lists would convey street/road names in the area and their assigned shelter/s. The information should also be published in the dailies and both methods of promulgation to the public should be done by May 1 annually. So if you live on Todd Street and fear that your house may not be able to withstand an impending storm, you may go to the shelter assigned to Todd Street (residents). This would avoid a degree of uncertainty and the mad scramble for shelter information at the last minute. Knowing in advance that you are guaranteed a safe place to weather a storm in your general neighbourhood will decrease confusion and stress levels, thereby increasing survival rates. Let us not fail to prepare.

DEXTER J RIGSBY
Lambert