“Take warnings seriously”, says Forbes

Acting Director of the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO), Michelle Forbes, is of the view that when it comes to natural disaster warnings, Vincentians do not take matters seriously.{{more}}

“…We have to take take warnings very seriously because we never know when we would be vulnerable to a hurricane or other natural disaster someday,” Forbes said in an interview with SEARCHLIGHT on Wednesday.

Forbes pointed out that in the past 20 years, most storms and hurricanes have either by passed St Vincent or fizzled out. “We still have the perception that nothing is going to hit us. No matter what, we never know what path a hurricane is going to take place because it is never exact and we can only give co-ordinates and projections on how its going to impact,” Forbes noted.

Stating that peak season for hurricanes starts around September, Forbes noted that St Vincent and the Grenadines has to continue efforts in preparedness.

“…Sadly, when a storm is approaching and St Vincent is not impacted, people would react negatively. NEMO would never give false information to tell you to prepare and nothing is going to happen. We have to err on the side of caution,” she stressed.

Noting that the lack of response from the public is one of the biggest hurdles, Forbes said people need to get away from response mood only and act more on disaster risk reduction. (KW)