Disaster preparedness and management requires planning and there are several phases involved in the cycle. In this two-part series MELISSA DOUGHTY speaks with the CEO of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management and the director of the Tobago Emergency Management Agency about Trinidad and Tobago's readiness to deal with disasters.
Disastrous events are commonplace in the news. And it’s not just in TT but around the world, with reports like the recent flooding in China and Germany, wildfires in California, and the effects of the covid19 pandemic topping the headlines.
The images are jarring. People wading through large bodies of murky water that encroached on their living spaces, search and rescue teams picking through rubble after earthquakes to find survivors, and homeowners looking on helplessly as all their material possessions go up in flames before their eyes.
Biological, hydrometeorological, environmental, seismic, social organisational and industrial/technological are among the types of hazards that are of greatest concern for TT. But is the country ready for them?
While every hurricane (June to November) and rainy season (June to December) might bring this into even sharper focus, the growing number of other potential disasters means that it should become an everyday focus.
The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) and the Tobago Emergency Management Agency (TEMA) believe an all-of-society approach is needed for an adequate response to disaster risk in TT.
[caption id="attachment_904912" align="alignnone" width="1024"] In this April 2021 file photo, residents of communities in northeast St Vincent, around the La Soufriere area, on trucks and at the side of the road waiting for rides to safer areas. -[/caption]
When asked about perennial flooding in certain areas in TT, CEO of the ODPM retired major general Rodney Smart told Newsday it is all about how disasters are managed, especially in the age of climate change.
“When you get a month’s rate of rain in a day or two, whatever you have cannot control that.”
He said hazards are managed through all phases of the disaster management cycle, which includes prevention, mitigation, preparedness, event, response, recovery and rehabilitation. He said the Ministry of Works would usually set out to clear drains from as early as January and February before the rainy season began. But
with increased rainfall, increased intensity and some area being within what he termed the "hot zone," the drainage was unable to cope.
Smart said there are two projects that the ODPM, the Ministry of Planning and Development and the Ministry of Works and Transport Works are involved in as it regards flood alleviation.
“These are long-term projects and it would take some time before we feel the full effects of those projects.”
Showing its growing metrics on its various social media pages in an attempt to make more people disaster aware, Smart said TT needs to reach a point where communities take greater responsibility for disaster readine
