Preparing for the storm

The NOAA summary on hurricanes and tropical storms notes that a Category Four or Five hurricane (with winds upward of 130 miles per hour) could destroy between 75 to 90 percent of the houses in this country. A Category One hurricane (with winds between 74 and 95 mph) would do damage but, according to the report, is within the "national capacity to cope."

However, there is coping and there is coping. As citizens well know, just a heavy downpour of more than 30 minutes’ duration results in floods in Port-of-Spain and, lately, outlying areas such as Woodbrook and parts of St James.

A day of heavy rain leads to flooding in several areas in Central, with residents in those areas now accustomed to the annual inconvenience and damage to their possessions.

The habit of those in authority is to categorise unusually heavy rainfall as an Act of God, while at the same time expressing gratitude to God for sparing us from an actual hurricane. But, according to Dr Myron Chin, Pro Tem director of the newly established Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM), Trinidad and Tobago’s good luck may not last for long. "Because of global warming, the experts tell us that hurricanes are coming further south," he revealed in an interview with the Sunday Newsday.

Trinidad has so far been spared the trauma of a full-fledged hurricane simply because this island lies just outside the tropical storm belt.

But climate patterns do shift and, if we were wise, we would have already used our fortuitous geographical placement to prepare for the day when a hurricane does strike. But we have not done so, and both the authorities and citizens seem to rely on the hope that what hasn’t happened in the past will continue not to happen.

Hope, however, is always more secure when backed by action. Dr Chin identified specific man-made problems which will surely exacerbate our misfortune should even a tropical storm hit Trinidad and Tobago.

These include the failure to de-silt rivers, unregulated developments, the lack of enforcement of building codes, and the dumping of garbage in river courses.

Save for the last item, these are all matters that the relevant authorities can take action on. To cite a recent example, it is likely that all three factors contributed to the flooding at the Trincity Mall twice last month.

The last item — dumping garbage in rivers — is more problematic, because it is almost impossible to police such acts. What the authorities can do in this regard is have a public campaign to educate citizens on the consequences of this bad practice. It would also be useful to set up large dumpsters near the river courses where people throw their garbage, so they would put their refuse in the containers instead.

As for citizens, they must also be prepared. The habit here is to engage in panic buying of basic supplies after a storm warning is issued. But every household should have tinned foods, water in containers, matches and candles, batteries, and a first-aid kit on hand. In a worst-case scenario — or even just a bad-case one — such simple measures can save lives.

A word to the wise should be sufficient — and the wise should know that is unwise to rely entirely on the powers-that-be in an emergency.