Hanover only partially ready for hurricane season

WESTERN BUREAU:

While the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season is now officially here, Kenisha Dunbar, the disaster preparedness coordinator for Hanover, says the western parish is only partially ready and preparatory work will continue during the months ahead.

Forecasters at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in the United States are predicting a 60 per cent chance of above-average storm activity for the 2021 season, and a 30 per cent chance of below-average activity. Of the 13 to 20 named storms, between six and 10 are likely to become hurricanes, while between three and five could become major hurricanes.

“Based on the measuring instruments that we have used, we are 88 per cent prepared. These instruments take a number of things into consideration, things other than the facilities, such as the training of the persons, managing the shelters, and also the preparation work that has taken place,” Dunbar told The Gleaner.

She further added that it was an inspection team that did the assessment to arrive at the percentage of readiness. The team included representatives from the Ministry of Health, the National Works Agency, the Ministry of Labour, the Hanover Fire Prevention Unit, the Hanover Municipal Corporation, and Dunbar.

RETIRED MANAGERS

While expressing her appreciation for the cooperativeness of the residents in the various districts in which the 55 emergency shelters – 11 of which are priority shelters – have been established, Dunbar pointed out that a number of new shelter managers have been put in place because, as a result of the COVID-19 restrictions, several of the senior shelter managers had to be retired.

While not detailing how many senior shelter managers have been retired, Dunbar nonetheless pointed out that all the retirees have given their commitment to making themselves available, if needed.

“We do have shelter managers for all our shelters, separate and apart from the volunteers recruited under the National Volunteer Programme (NVP),” explained Dunbar. “Under the NVP in the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management, persons are being trained in communities to assist in the event that they are needed to provide assistance from basic search and rescue to initial damage assessment, so we are trying our best to maintain the level of preparedness that is necessary for the efficient running of the centres.”

The disaster coordinator also noted that each emergency shelter is equipped with an isolation area to facilitate any cases of persons showing up with the coronavirus.

According to Dunbar, arrangements have been made with owners of heavy-duty equipment to be on call should there be major land slippages in places like Askenish, Clifton, Chambers Pen, Middlesex and Kingsvale, which all have a history of such activities.