Coping with tragedy

I am assuming that when we refer to the hurricane season we take into account related weather “patterns or systems”. The old jingle tells us that June is too soon but that in November it is all over. In fact, we used to celebrate what we called “Thanksgiving” in November, where we gave thanks to the Lord for having helped us through the hurricane season. But, funny enough, November is a month associated with heavy rains and rain storms. A hurricane is a storm with violent winds, while what we experienced on Christmas Eve night was a storm with a lot of rain, thunder and lightning.{{more}} Technically when we say that the hurricane season is over, we might be correct, but the season of storms continues. In fact, with “climate change,” whose existence some still continue to doubt, the hurricane season appears to have moved further to the end of the year. In recent years, including this year, September and October seem to have produced much more rain than November. Really, the rainy season now appears to go even into January. Having said all of that, what we experienced on Christmas Eve’s night would have been the last thing on our minds as we made final preparations for the “Big Day.” Initially, to me, the heavy rainfall on Christmas Eve night was just another of those miserable nights, even though the continuous flashes of lightning bothered me somewhat. The 24th of December 2013 is now a day that we are unlikely to forget for a long time.

We have heard many sad stories, especially about the lives that were lost. There are obviously other stories to be told about loss and survival and how some spent their Christmas. The events of Tuesday night are now really history, for we cannot undo what was done, the loss of lives, including animals and property. I believe that those whose frame of reference is religious would say that a message was sent to us; others might see it as a lesson that we need to understand and to learn. In any event, we have tasks ahead of us, some short-term and some in the longer term. It is in situations like these that the national spirit is tested. In the past we have mostly rallied to the call and demonstrated what we are capable of and what community spirit means, recognizing then that, after all, we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers.

We must certainly not wait for tragic incidents to put this to the test or to remind us about it. Unfortunately, this might not last very long, for with elections in the air, we might be back to square one in no time. In the meantime we have to ensure that in this recovery effort political considerations are, if not completely discarded, at least, minimized. It is up to us, as people on the ground, to monitor things and to ensure that assistance is given to those affected by the disaster and to no one else. Of signal importance, therefore, is to avoid the politicisation of our response to this tragedy, bearing in mind what happened with Tomas and given the immediacy of national elections. We have to thank the social media for allowing us to follow what was taking place, for Facebook provided us with continuous updates on what was happening. But the task is not finished, for there must be a national effort to ensure just distribution of assistance for those affected by the storm. We have to work together as members of a community that has been seriously damaged. Political concerns must not enter into the calculations and each person affected must be treated as a brother or sister, not as a member of a political party.

While, hopefully, long- term assistance will come from abroad, in the short- term local resources will be called on; but it will involve some prioritising where these are concerned, for whatever is spent on the rehabilitation effort will necessarily be at the sacrifice of other things. Persons who suffered need to be looked after immediately. The damage to infrastructure is both short and long- term, for life must go on and what needs to be put in place urgently has to be done. We have, in all of this, to learn what lessons there are to be learnt. I believe that we must pay more serious attention to where and how we build, particularly near to rivers and on steep hillsides, easily subjected to flooding. The dumping of garbage in the drains and rivers has to be monitored and stopped and offenders punished. While we cannot plan for all disasters, we have to ensure that we minimise any serious effects by putting in place what needs to be put in place.

What lessons can we learn from the tragedy of the night of December 24? Questions are being asked about NEMO’s initial response based, I believe, on an article in a St Lucia newspaper. I don’t know how valid are those concerns, but in any event, after any disaster, NEMO, like others that are part of the emergency network, needs to do its own critical examination, determining how efficient and effective was its response and what, if anything, needs to be done differently in the future. In tragic situations like these, those with access to resources fare better, but they should humble them by showing that there are certain things over which they have no control, regardless of how rich they are or think they are. Unfortunately, the humbling experience does not last very long. Were the happenings on Christmas Eve meant to put us to the test? Will we pass that test?

Dr Adrian Fraser is a social commentator and historian.