Be proactive!

As Barbadians pray to be spared from another storm this active hurricane season, a local engineer, contending that prevention is better than cure, is urging all homeowners, if they have not already done so, to install hurricane straps in their roofs without delay.

President of the Barbados Association of Professional Engineers (BAPE), Grenville Phillips II, is adamant that investing a mere $50 in the small metal devices can go a long way in ensuring that roof structures remain in place, should a storm or hurricane visit these shores. Phillips, who was recently in Anguilla assessing the catastrophic damage caused by Category 5 Hurricane Irma over a week ago, urged Barbadians to be proactive and warned that if such steps are not taken, the country could suffer potential untold damage the likes of which we here have not seen before.

“We spent a lot of money fixing structures after Tomas, Government and the insurance companies both spent millions and Tomas was a light breeze. Now if a light breeze like that can do so much damage, what of a stronger system?” he queried in an interview with The Barbados Advocate.

Phillips raised the issue as he contended that with the country’s high debt situation at present, there is no room to recover if we sustained serious damage from a hurricane. As such, he remains convinced that individual homeowners must do their part to secure their homes and help to minimise any potential damage.

“We don’t have any room to recover if we get hit by a hurricane. Yes we will get assistance from the Red Cross and the United Nations agencies, but they are concerned about humanitarian responses, not restoring the economy, not jump-starting your economy,” Phillips stated.

He added, “So homeowners need to purchase the hurricane connectors and put them in the apex, because toenailing doesn’t work, that is a temporary connection. It is there temporarily so you can put in the actually connection. So the point I am making is you don’t need to lose your contents for no reason; you don’t need to spend $10 000 fixing a roof when you can spend $50 strengthening it.”

Noting that the process of installing the connectors is not a difficult one nor does it take a lot of time, he is suggesting that it is an initiative that can be taken on by some government agencies like the constituency councils or the Department of Emergency Management.

“What the constituency councils can do is organise groups of persons to strengthen the houses in their various communities, starting with the elderly. We have fellows on the blocks looking for things to do, let them get a ladder and go into the homes and install these things. The homeowner can purchase the screws and connectors from any hardware store – the stainless steel ones look a lot nicer, the galvanise steel ones don’t look as nice, but they are both effective – and they can provide the workers with a hot meal in return. If not, the Department of Emergency Management can try to organise these things; and make sure you do not nail them in, screw them in, because you don’t want leaks,” he stated.

The BAPE President made the point as he suggested that such a programme would also be well suited to be part of this year’s Community Independence Celebrations. He said it can be part of the parish ambassadors’ programmes, and they can be judged on who is most successful. (JRT)