A battle with mother nature
As we full well know, it’s hurricane season – and this one is a rough one. It seems as though Mother Nature’s wrath has come to the fore and some of earth’s inhabitants are doing battle to emerge from her clutches. Sadly, not everyone will emerge unscathed.
Less than two weeks after Hurricane Harvey descended on the state of Texas in the United States, causing massive flooding in Houston, Hurricane Irma, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic followed on its heels, ripping through mainly the Northern Caribbean.
Irma was kind enough to spare Antigua, of the dual-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda. However, the Category 5 storm levelled Barbuda, damaging 95 per cent of its buildings and leaving the island “barely habitable”. Soon after that, Irma barely skirted Puerto Rico, but not before she left one million without electricity and took a few lives. She was meanwhile threatening havoc and destruction on the Virgin Islands, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba. The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands were also said to be at risk. There if further fear and trepidation, as the storm is expected to reach Florida early on Saturday, potentially causing catastrophic flooding.
What makes things worse, is the fact that before we can fully come to grips with the reports of damage and destruction to various land masses caused by Irma, we are faced with the horrible news that another tropical storm has formed in the Atlantic behind her, called Jose, which might hit other Caribbean islands, today and Saturday.
Now whilst we empathise with brothers and sisters in the Caribbean and others from abroad who have been touched by severe weather systems and their spin off effects, we in Barbados cannot sit back on our laurels and feel smug. The old feeling that God is a Bajan, should not continue to hold water amongst the population. Rather, the experiences of our regional and international sisters and brothers in their storm experience, should serve as a wake-up call for us here in Barbados and we should hone in on our disaster preparedness efforts and more specifically our hurricane preparedness efforts, at the household and national levels. While we cannot predict exactly what will happen during a tropical storm or hurricane, it is better to be prepared in advance for endless possibilities, than simply hoping for the best or later looking to react, as a bad weather system descends upon us.
We cannot fully prepare for a battle with Mother Nature, if she were to truly unleash her fury by way of a hurricane visiting our little island. Nevertheless, we can do our best to be as prepared as we possibly can be, before disaster strikes.
Simple things as having a properly stocked hurricane kit consisting of non-perishable food items, batteries, a battery operated or hand cranked radio, a cellphone charger, a LED flashlight for each member of the family, a lighter, a first aid kit and one gallon of water for every member of the family, can start the journey in householders’ preparedness efforts. Knowing where the closest hurricane shelter is located and having an emergency evacuation plan for one’s family or workplace, are other steps in the process.
That said, kudos to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) for its efforts so far, in trying to assist countries in the Northern Caribbean region, which continue to grapple with the effects of Hurricane Irma. As CDEMA works to ensure that the needs of those in the islands devastated by Hurricane Irma are addressed in a timely, efficient and safe manner, may we in Barbados do our part, to assist where we can. After all, who knows when our time will come?