Edgar Leonard. Photo: Provided

The Caribbean region is heavily prone to natural disasters, including hurricanes and other tropical weather systems, floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis. Additionally, governing authorities have to also plan for man-made disasters, i.e., explosives, hazardous spills, fires, emissions from industrial plants………etc., but the focus of this commentary is on natural disasters.

La Soufriere volcano, silent since 1979, is currently active and erupting in St Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). Thus far, the government has had to evacuate approximately 17,000 residents. According to the University of West Indies Seismic Research Centre, there are about 19 live volcanoes in the Eastern Caribbean. Every island from Grenada to Saba is subject to the direct threat of volcanic eruptions.  Additionally, Grenada, St Vincent, St Lucia, Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, St Eustatius (Statia) and Saba have live centres. Moreover, islands such as Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, VI (British), most of the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago are close to volcanic islands. Therefore, they are subject to volcanic hazards such as severe ash fall and volcanically generated tsunamis.

Impact and Cost of Disasters

Disasters, either natural or man-made, a) pose a risk to lives, b) impact lives and livelihoods, c) destroy properties, and d) destroy and disrupt economies. Disasters are particularly hazardous to the health and safety and economic well-being of small developing countries and their residents. The challenging conditions created by the disasters are imposing severe hardship on people living on the margin and countries. Most regional countries are resource-poor with small, fragile economies, i.e., tourism, and limited ability to rebound after a disaster quickly. Disasters damage housing and other facilities, disrupt businesses, impact economic growth and development, impact government operations, impact medical, education and other vital services, increase unemployment, impact the quality of life and standard of living and so on. Another crucial area in addition to the social, economic, and environmental effects are the frequency of disasters. The frequency of disasters means that recoveries are slowed significantly, slowing recovery and development. Though natural disasters occurrences are unavoidable, governments can mitigate the potential impacts of the disasters through proactive, aggressive, smart, and sensible actions.  

Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

FEMA is the disaster management agency of the US, an advanced country. I refer to it here only as an example that regional governments can adopt and adapt measures to suit the region's disaster needs. The region, perhaps, can benefit from the battle-hardened experience of FEMA. FEMA's primary purpose is to coordinate the response to a disaster in the US that overwhelmed the resources of local and state authorities. Assistance to declared emergencies include a) availability of technical experts in specific fields, b) funds for rebuilding efforts and relief for infrastructure, c) low-interest loans in conjunction with Small Business Administration (SBA), d) individual assistance, e) public assistance, and f) funds the training of response personnel. FEMA's annual budget is approximately $18B, and it also provides disaster assistance to the VI and Puerto Rico. Of note, Canada and UK disaster agency(s) mission is relatively similar to FEMA's.

CDEMA

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) formed in 2005; the name changed to Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) in 2009. CDEMA is an inter-regional supportive network of independent emergency units throughout the Caribbean region. Countries in the network include Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, VI (British), Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St Kitts and Nevis, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Turks and Caicos Islands. CDEMA and FEMA share a relatively similar mission. However, CDEMA faces challenges in structure, mitigation, response, preparation, recovery, and funding.

A recent CDEMA Disaster Management and Readiness Audit show an urgent need for: a) Improve planning and coordination across sectors and b) strengthened preparation and response mechanism at the national levels.

Hurricanes

The official start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which runs from June 01 to November 30 annually, is rapidly approaching. Climate change/global warming results in more frequent and severe hurricanes, rising sea levels………etc. Amid the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, the worst pandemic since the Spanish Flu in 1918, the 2020 hurricane season was a record-setting season with 30 named storms and 13 hurricanes (6 major hurricanes, i.e., Cat 3≥). For 2021, Colorado State University predicts another above-average season with 17 named storms and eight (8) hurricanes and four (4) major hurricanes. Throughout the Caribbean during the hurricane season, residents go through the ritual of nervously and anxiously praying and hoping that hurricanes will not hit their countries and turn north into the open Atlantic, posing no threat to land.

Nevertheless, some island(s) will get hit somewhere in the Caribbean. In the Caribbean, it is not if, but when an island gets hit. It may take decades between getting hit with recurrent hurricanes for some islands, resulting in lowering of guards and increasing complacency. The impact of monster category 5 hurricanes Irma and Maria that hit the VI in September 2017, causing significant damages, adverse economic effects, changed lives and livelihoods, are still reverberating throughout the community. Although leaders cannot stop hurricanes fury, they can protect lives and minimise property damages. Consequently, CDEMA must be reimagined and re-transformed to reduce vulnerability to hazards and improve the capacity and capability to cope with disasters.

Reimagining and Re-transforming CDEMA

Reimagining and re-transforming CDEMA require out of the box thinking. Though CDEMA may appear to be the lead agency in responding to and providing assistance for disasters, the front line and prime responsibility for managing disasters fall to individual member states. Other agencies, organisations, institutions, NGOs, and individuals also play a vital role in responding to disasters. The region is neither a unitary nor federated system of government, so the response to disasters may not be as strong and cohesive as it needs and should be. CDEMA's roles and responsibilities must be improved and strengthened to enhance its efficacy and effectiveness to mitigate, prepare, respond to, and recover from disasters. The following are some suggestions for enhancing CDEMA performance and responsiveness:

a) Increase CDEMA funding level; it needs a stable and steady funding stream(s) to operate. The main Achilles Heel to CDEMA's efficacy and effectiveness may be underfunding. Most of its funding seems to come from donations, grants……. etc. CDEMA exists to support and serve the region, and the region must assume responsibility for and build out its budget. Regional countries must commit to and appropriate funding annually for CDEMA's operations proportional to their size and population. Of course, with funding comes responsibility and accountability through annual comprehensive, certified, account and finance audits;

b) Establish a headquarters outside of the frequent and historical paths of frequently recurring events, i.e., hurricanes. Satellite sites can also be established at strategic locations, i.e., Bahamas, and Antigua and Barbuda;

c) Procure assets, i.e., ships, aircraft, construction equipment, machinery, vehicles, communication equipment (satellite phones……etc.), electronics equipment, portable buildings, portable facilities (e.g., kitchen) ……. etc., along with consumable items that can be prepositioned ahead and outside of the path of a predicted event, i.e., hurricane. Some assets can also be located at strategic satellite locations for prepositioning. The agency will need working capital to launch the programme;

d) Train and establish various types of "Tiger Teams" for rapid dispatch and deployment to disaster sites, i.e., medical, communications, housing……. etc.;

e) Establish a small loan programme and agency to manage it to award loans to individuals and small businesses to help them recover from a disaster(s);

f) Strengthen building codes;

g) Establish a training academy to provide a myriad of training in mitigation, preparation, response, and recovery to disaster management personnel and others;

h) Establish a regional windstorm/emergency disaster insurance pool to help fund individual and business losses after a disaster;

I) Establish a Pre-disaster Mitigation Programme for various events, i.e., floods, hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes, facilities………. etc. to mitigate risks, reduce injuries, reduce loss, and improve recovery time;

j) Establish board to in-take disaster requests, process them, and make disaster declaration(s), and;

k) Establish legal mechanisms to facilitate CDEMA partnering and working smoothly with member states.

Disasters are not the sole responsibility of each island; it is the region's responsibility. When the region works cooperatively and collaboratively, great benefits accrue to the region and the region's people. Absent of a unitary state or federation, the region must work collectively to fund and solve common and shared problems, i.e., natural, and man-made disasters. Preparation is insurance; time to start preparing for the fast approaching 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season.