Disaster Preparedness should be taken seriously
Yesterday, during the morning show on the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) radio, the following was broadcast during the weather segment:âA tropical wave is approaching the island.â
What was the response of listeners? How many listeners actually took note and decided to keep track of the weather system to determine how much of a danger it poses as it moves closer?{{more}}
The average Vincentian, more than likely, did not pay much attention. Our good fortune over the years, where natural disasters are concerned, has lulled us into a false sense of security.
Although we, more than most, given our circumstances, should have disaster preparedness very high on our agenda, we do not.
We live every day with the threat of a dormant volcano and of earthquakes; and now that we are in the hurricane season, there is the additional threat of heavy rains, high wind, flooding and landslides. Despite this, by and large, our attitude to disaster preparedness leaves a lot to be desired.
But can we really be blamed for our attitude? Responses are usually informed by experience, and if we look at our countryâs recent history where natural disasters are concerned, we have had several close shaves, but no devastation in our recent past.
The most devastating hurricane to affect us to date was in 1898, when an estimated 300 people were killed. Fifty-seven years later, in 1955, Hurricane Janet was expected to hit us directly, but took a last minute turn to the south and passed directly between Grenada and Carriacou, killing 122 persons in the island chain. According to historical accounts, St. Vincent was levelled. Since then, flooding, landslides and wave surges have resulted in more loss of life than hurricanes specifically.
The closest experience most Vincentians have had of an earthquake was on Thursday, November 29, 2007 when a magnitude 7.3 quake shook us up, but caused no loss of life.
Our volcano, La Soufrière has had six violent eruptions in recorded history: 1718, 1812, 1902, 1971, and 1979. The eruption of May 7, 1902, killed an estimated 2,000 people. The last recorded eruption, which was in April 1979 resulted in no casualties.
We therefore see that few Vincentians alive, if any, have experienced, here on home soil, a natural disaster which has resulted in mass fatalities or almost total destruction of our infrastructure as occurred when Hurricane Ivan hit Grenada in 2004.
Maybe we are blessed as our name Hairoun implies, but statisticians would tell us, the odds that we will suffer a direct hit by a hurricane or from the effect of some other natural disaster sometime in the next few years are great.
Of course, with todayâs improved communication and technology, early warning systems and building codes, we should not be as severly affected as our forebears were, if say for example, an eruption of the magnitude of the one in 1902 or the hurricane of 1898 impact us.
This should not make us complacent however. 85% of the infrastructure in Grenada was destroyed only six years ago, Haiti was devastated earlier this year and look at the disruption which has been caused by the eruptions of the Soufriere Hills volcano in Montserrat since 1995.
The National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) is recommending that families and businesses review their emergency plans now to reduce their risk of being negatively impacted, should a disaster strike.
We should take NEMOâs advice and also listen to the public service announcements on local radio and take action based on our particular circumstances. We may think we would have enough time to prepare before a hurricane or another potentially destructive phenomenon of nature strikes, but we never know.
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