South Central Windward preparing for active hurricane season

Several non-governmental organizations (NGOS) and stakeholders from the South Central Windward (SCW) constituency are getting ready in the event that disaster strikes during the upcoming hurricane season.

The hurricane season runs from Friday, June 1 to Friday, November 30, 2018 and Minister of Agriculture Saboto Caesar says it is important that we are prepared so as not to be hit by surprise if a natural disaster should strike. Caesar is the parliamentary representative for SCW.“It is well established that the vagaries of climate change are impacting the entire Caribbean.

In 2017, we witnessed immense devastation in several territories in the OECS,” said Caesar while speaking during a press briefing on Wednesday, April 9 at the Ministry of Agriculture’s conference room.To kickstart the plan, 40 raincoats have been sourced while Michael Akers, a resident of Greiggs in SCW, will spearhead the initiative which involves among other things, the gathering of names of persons in disaster prone areas, the collection of phone numbers of these persons, formulating an evacuation plan and storing non-perishable items.Akers has done extensive work with community organizations around the country and is now retired.

He will be dedicating his service over the next year to spearheading the organization and the mobilisation of resources so that SCW can be best prepared for what this country may face during the hurricane season.Akers said he agrees with Prime Minister of St Lucia Allen Chastenet that after one year of storms, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is still not prepared.“For a small region, it will be difficult to be totally prepared, so I am encouraging everyone to be part of the process as we all have a role to play in this thing,” said Akers who recalls that during Hurricane Tomas in 2010, while shelters were set up, there were people who should have been at the shelters who were not.

“In the midst of the storm, people spoke about a blind man and we had to go for him…so when I was approached to help with the project I thought it to be an honour to serve the community.”He however said the preparedness work cannot be done without help from other organizations in the communities and without feeding into what National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) is doing.

Speaking about the project, Caesar said historically when persons hear about natural disasters in the context of this country, it was volcanic eruptions.“However, with the experiences over the last year from hurricanes, I am certain that citizens and people in South Central Windward have seen it fit to be prepared for any eventuality,” said Caesar.He noted that natural disasters in Anguilla, Dominica and Barbuda and Hurricanes Irma and Maria in the British Virgin Islands (BVI) have struck a chord with the people of SCW since a very large population of persons residing in the BVI are from SCW.

“We have been in contact with family members there and a group of persons from South Central Windward came together with an idea to establish a localized, home grown, indigenous plan for preparing for the 2018 hurricane season,” explained Caesar.Caesar also noted that a proposed radio station, ‘Common Sense Radio’, will play a pivotal role in the disaster plan as part of the preparation process involves the issue of communication.

He said focus will be placed on general communication and apart from the radio station, several persons will receive satellite phones, so communication may be established village to village in case of a disaster.

Thanking Akers for his commitment, Caesar said one person cannot create the dent that is needed, so he is calling on the community to help.He said in a few days, they will begin a period of interviews and questionnaires aimed at determining the needs of persons in certain situations, so they can better plan for any eventuality. A mapping of homes in invulnerable areas will also be done while a plan to coordinate with the police will also be created.

“The police will have several meetings with home and business owners because we saw a situation in neighbouring islands that we can have a security situation on hand.“Some person may say we are shooting in the dark and some persons may say we are over preparing but from the experiences…it appears that a significant percentage of our population in the OECS and CARICOM are not as prepared as we could be.”

“What we are going to do in 2018 in South Central Windward is that we are going to mobilize every single individual and we are going to have a full appreciation of all the demands. We have spoken to several experts who will be giving guest lectures and doing things so that we do not have to wait, we will be prepared,” the parliamentary representative said.