OECS to hold discussions on disaster management

The St. Lucia-based Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Secretariat says it will hold a two-day meeting next week to discuss experiences learnt from a new measure used to assess damage following a disaster.



It said that the April 19-20 event will attract at least 40 delegates representing disaster agencies and Ministries of Finance and Planning from the nine-member sub-regional grouping.



The organization said participants will discuss the tool, which was developed more than forty years ago.



Officially referred to as the Disaster and Loss Assessment Methodology, the tool was introduced to the Caribbean in the late 1990s and was used in the OECS for the first time following the passage of Hurricane Ivan in Grenada in 2004.



Delegates will hear presentations on the effectiveness of the Tool when used to calculate the economic and social impacts of a natural disaster.



Participants will also discuss its usefulness in informing recovery and rehabilitation.