Gaps still remain in Caribbean’s emergency early warning systems

Although significant investment has been made in preparing emergency early warning systems in the Caribbean, some gaps still remain.

“There is need to strengthen the monitoring and response component of early warning systems, and also, communication at the national level, especially between national disaster offices and communities, is not significantly robust,” commented Marlon Clarke, last Friday, March 23, when NEMO launched Common Alerting Protocol (CAP), a mobile application attached to the SVG National Emergency Warning System and Early Warning Checklist, along with their early warning email option, at the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) conference room in Old Montrose.

Clarke is the technical coordinator in the Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reliance Unit at the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) for Barbados and the OECS. He spoke about the issues relating to early warning systems during the launch of the St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG) National Emergency Warning System and Early Warning Checklist.

Citing the other issues with early warning systems in the region he is responsible for, Clarke said that they lack the necessary redundancy to support emergency situations, while the needs of the vulnerable and special groups are not always adequately considered in relation to warnings. He also noted there is a need to strengthen institutional arrangements and co-ordination.

Clarke said the process to strengthen early warning systems began in 2013, with the support of the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO) and the UNDP, and both parties have endeavoured to apply the lessons learnt in a more effective expansion and upscaling of a common alerting protocol, based on early warning systems in the region.

He noted that the UNDP focused on Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) based early warning systems and that a single alert can trigger multiple warning devices, therefore increasing the likelihood that the message goes out.

He also noted an observation from Dominica after Hurricane Maria, which points to the need to have more regular simulation exercises based on updated standard operating procedures and plans.

“Therefore, I believe we are at a critical juncture in our development and have to ask some probing questions, especially as it relates to preparedness mechanisms in the region and especially noting that category five hurricanes are likely to continue in our region,” said Clarke.

He said that UNDP will continue to invest in preparedness mechanisms and CAP-based early warning systems and making them better.

“While gaps remain, St Vincent and the Grenadines is in a much better position to prepare and alert its population and the launch of this early warning system is testament of that,” Clarke said.