Caribbean Studies

Natural disasters are defined as natural catastrophes which cause great damage by disrupting the functioning of a society. Natural disasters are inevitable and ubiquitous worldwide. Within the Caribbean, three main natural disasters are hurricanes, earthquakes, floods. The great damages caused by natural disasters may be divided into two categories: social and economic and environmental. However, this essay will address the social and economic impact of these natural disasters on the Caribbean and how to reduce the effects of these disasters. In regards to the essay, Hurricanes (with special emphasis being placed on Hurricane Gilbert) and floods as well as two Caribbean territories, Jamaica and Haiti will be utilized respectively. The following points will be discussed in terms of hurricane: loss of lives and homelessness, disruption of communities, employment (social impact) process of money being diverted into relief activities and reconstruction, Gross Domestic Product (economic impacts).

Conversely points that will be discussed for flooding are: food shortage and the contamination of water, loss of homes (social impacts) and the overall impact on the economy as well as assistance received from outsiders (economic impacts). A hurricane is a type of tropical cyclone, which is generally formed in the tropics. This tropical cyclone is accompanied by thunderstorms, heavy rainfall, flooding and strong winds. The economic and social consequences of this phenomenon are severe, especially in less developed Caribbean countries, Haiti for example. A hurricane can cause major loss of lives and also homelessness. Hurricane Gilbert struck the Caribbean and the Gulf Coast of Mexico in 1988, causing comprehensive damage in Jamaica, Haiti, Guatemala, Honduras, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, and Nicaragua.

Approximately 21 lives were lossed in Jamaica during this hurricane, and it left over 400 people homeless. Crops were destroyed; livestock farmers were left to dispose of farm animals that were perished during the hurricane and utility poles uprooted. As a result of the damages from a hurricane, unemployment can become a major social impact, as the facilities for jobs can be badly damaged. The economic impact of Hurricanes on Caribbean territories can retard development. The money that a country has, is now diverted into relief activities and reconstruction of damaged properties. All these losses can wipe out whatever gain that may have been achieved in economic development. Approximately $4 billion was diverted into reconstruction, when hurricane Gilbert came to Jamaica

(http://www.nationmaster.com/graph/dis_hur_gil_imp_imp_dam-disasters-hurricane-gilbert-impact-damage).

Once the risk posed by hurricanes is understood, specific mitigation measures can be taken to reduce the risk to communities, infrastructure, and economic activities. Human and economic losses can be greatly reduced through well-organized efforts to implement appropriate preventive measures, in public awareness and in issuing timely warnings. Thanks to these measures, countries in the region have experienced a drastic reduction in the number of deaths caused by hurricanes.

Mitigation measures are most cost-effective when implemented as part of the original plan or construction of vulnerable structures. Typical examples are the application of building standards designed for hurricane-force winds, the avoidance of areas that can be affected by storm surge or flooding, and the planting of windbreaks to protect wind-sensitive crops. Retrofitting buildings or other projects to make them hurricane-resistant is more costly and sometimes impossible. Once a project is located in a flood-prone area, it may not be feasible to move it to safer ground.

The overall record on mitigation of hurricane risk in the Caribbean and Central America is not very encouraging. Cases abound of new investments in the public or productive sectors that were exposed to significant hazard risk because of inappropriate design or location, and even of projects that were rebuilt in the same way on the same site after having been destroyed a first time. Other cases can be cited of schools and hospitals funded with bilateral aid that were built to design standards suitable for the donor country but incapable of resisting hurricane-strength winds prevalent in the recipient country.

The tourism sector in the Caribbean is notorious for its apparent disregard of the risk of hurricanes and associated hazards. A hotel complex built with insufficient setback from the high-water mark not only risks being damaged by wave action and storm surge, but interferes with the normal processes of beach formation and dune stabilization, thus reducing the effectiveness of a natural system of protection against wave action. After the first serious damage is incurred the owners of the hotel will most likely decide to rebuild on the same site and invest in a seawall, rather than consider moving the structure to a recommended setback. The effectiveness of national emergency preparedness offices of countries in the region is often seriously limited because of inadequate institutional support and a shortage of technical and financial resources. In the smaller Caribbean islands, these offices are mostly one-person operations, with the person in charge responsible for many other non-emergency matters. It would be unrealistic to expect them to be able to act effectively at the local level in cases of area-wide emergencies, such as those caused by hurricanes. It is therefore essential to enhance the capacity of the population in small towns and villages to prepare for and respond to emergencies by their own means.

From 1986 through 1989, the OAS/Natural Hazards Project has worked with several Eastern Caribbean countries to evaluate the vulnerability of small towns and villages to natural hazards, and train local disaster managers and community leaders in organizing risk assessments and mitigation in their communities. These activities have resulted in the preparation of a training manual with accompanying video for use by local leaders. This effort has focused on lifeline networks-transportation, communications, water, electricity, sanitation-and critical facilities related to the welfare of the inhabitants, such as hospitals and health centers, schools, police and fire stations, community facilities, and emergency shelters.

The remainder of this chapter is dedicated to a summary overview of the process by which the leadership in a small town or village can introduce effective hazard mitigation. D. COPING WITH HURRICANES IN SMALL TOWNS AND VILLAGES

1. Inventory of Lifeline Networks and Critical Facilities 2. Learning the Operation of Lifelines and Facilities and Their Potential for Disruption by Hurricane 3. Checking the Vulnerability of the Lifelines and Facilities through Field Inspection and Investigation 4. Establishing a Positive Working Relationship with the Agencies and Companies that Manage the Infrastructure and Services of the Community 5. Developing an Understanding of the Total Risk to the Community 6. Formulating a Mitigation Strategy

The degree to which local communities can survive damage and disruption from severe storms and hurricanes also depends to a large extent on how well the basic services and infrastructure, the common goods of the community, stand up to the wind and rain accompanying these storms. Whereas individual families bear full responsibility for preparing their own shelter to withstand the effects of storms, they have a much more limited role in ensuring that their common services are safeguarded, yet one that cannot be neglected.

Non-governmental agencies involved in low income housing construction and upgrading have developed practical and low cost measures for increasing the resistance of self-built houses to hurricane force winds. Typical of efforts of this nature is the work performed by the Construction Resource and Development Centre (CRDC) in Jamaica, which produced educational materials and organized workshops on house and roof reconstruction following Hurricane Gilbert.

The principal responsibility for introducing an awareness and concern in the community regarding the