Brace for weather extremes - Climatologists forecast busy year ahead
Published:Sunday | January 2, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Laura Redpath, Senior Staff Reporter
Jamaicans are being urged to prepare for an active 2011 as weather patterns show that the country may be frequently responding to natural disasters this year.
Considering that the Caribbean has been an active region, res-ponding to earthquakes and hard-hitting tropical systems, Dr David Smith, coordinator of the Institute of Sustainable Development at the University of the West Indies (UWI), is encouraging every Jamaican to have a personal disaster response plan in place.
Smith noted that the country on a whole has become "too complacent" in preparing for the destruction that disasters, especially earthquakes, bring.
"We need to pay attention to the possibility of an earthquake and a major earthquake is something [which] we should be preparing for," he told The Sunday Gleaner on Thursday.
His words echo those of Dr Joan Latchman, the acting director of the Seismic Research Centre at the UWI in Trinidad and Tobago.
Potential disaster
Latchman, following the 5.1 magnitude earthquake that shook Trinidad and Tobago a week ago, has been quoted in the media as warning the Caribbean that an 8.0 magnitude earthquake could hit any day.
She noted that while the Caribbean has been experiencing powerful earthquakes with higher magnitudes than 7.0, every two or three decades, the region has not experienced one of 8.0 that is estimated to take place every century.
Smith said that schools should be stepping up their earthquake preparations and be in the habit of reminding children of the emergency procedures. He also suggested that families should discuss their disaster-response plans with all family members.
"They really should have an idea of how they will meet up after an earthquake. They should make a plan to meet at a location that everyone agrees on.
"It is very likely you won't be able to call anybody. Everyone will be trying to make calls and that could easily shut down the network within 15 minutes," he said.
Smith also said there is an immediate need to look at the country on a whole and understand its vulnerability.
Jamaica's catastrophe risk profile, completed in April last year by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), shows that the country stands at losing US$135 million each year in hurricane damage.
Following the 7.0 magnitude quake that resulted in the collapse of Port-au-Prince in Haiti, the discussions and debates about Jamaica's vulnerability have been ongoing.
"We need to start strengthening as much as possible to ensure minimal damage," said Smith, who is also a consultant on environment and disaster management.
"The Government ought to make provision for potential damage caused by storms, hurricanes and so forth. Over the last 10 years, the Government has spent US$180 million each year. We should look at the past experiences because when we do have damage, we struggle to find the money," he added.
Ronald Jackson, director general of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), also spoke to preparation.
"The trend suggests that there will be some event to which we will have to respond. The last decade has been one of the most active.
"Disaster is a development issue and we talk around our issues until we begin to integrate hazard and vulnerability into the maintenance of infrastructure," Jackson told The Sunday Gleaner last week.
Enforcement continues to be an issue for Jamaica.
"We don't necessarily need new legislation. We should review the fines in existing legislation and we need to enforce [them]," Jackson said.
The island's infrastructure, according to the director general, needs to be reviewed, especially the gullies, which he said are over 50 years old.
"The Government needs to start enforcing its laws again. Heavy buildings compromise the gully enforcement," said Smith.
Educate contractors
In addition, Smith recommended that the Government pays attention to buildings and people who need relocation. He also suggested that building contractors need to be educated on how to build in preparation for disasters, or in disaster zones, such as areas prone to floods.
"If you're going to build a home there, build it in an elevated way. Floods would then become a minor inconvenience and not a major catastrophe," Smith said. "It is important to explain what the risks are and the techniques that should be used. Build appropriately."
The availability of resources continues to be an issue.
ODPEM's Jackson, full of mitigation ideas where disasters and preparedness are concerned, lamented the limited resources that Government agencies, such as the National Works Agency and the Meteorological (MET) Service, have access to.
"The resources are just not there in large quantities. We have to prioritise and we have to start somewhere," said Jackson, who used the tourism sector as an example.
"We have to ask ourselves, what will be the returns we get on these investments? It pays to protect the tourism infrastructure. And when we look at roadwork, we need to determine which roads are critical? Which ones will carry the produce to the market, for instance," Jackson added.
In the meantime, the MET Service is currently exploring a project that will allow Jamaicans to have personal weather stations on their properties.
The programme is not unique to Jamaica as other countries have implemented it. The stations are expected to provide local updates, which can be shared with the MET Service and the rest of Jamaica.