By Dennie Quill, ContributorJAMAICANS BOMBARDED God last week. Many from whom he had not heard in a long time begged to be spared and God listened. By all predictions this category four powerhouse of nature called Ivan should have been much worse for us. The folks in south-east Clarendon may not believe this. But it is true. We cannot minimise the seriousness of the 15 deaths so far, but the loss of life could have been greater if we had been hit directly. We keep hearing that the 'eye' of the storm missed us. Thankfully for thousands of us across the Caribbean Ivan doesn't appear to see very well so the eye never made connection with land. The "eye" of the hurricane is a place of relative calm in the middle of the maelstrom but the worst winds are just outside of it and this explains why we continued to be lashed by feeder bands even through Saturday evening.
THE GOODNESS OF GOD
I gather meteorologists are still trying to explain how Ivan kept on its southerly path and never made landfall as it was expected to do. It's called the goodness of God. It was not surprising therefore to behold the throngs that packed some of Kingston's churches on Sunday morning. We know so well that we were part of a miraculous happening. Hurricane Ivan will long be remembered as a harbinger of a greater sense of community. Workmen put in many extra hours helping to get buildings prepared. Neighbours were extending the hand of kindness to each other giving hints on how to be prepared and being generally concerned about each other's welfare. People shared what they had with each other. Throughout the storm people were calling their loved ones from various parts of the globe, thanks to Cable and Wireless. One woman remarked: "I didn't realise that so many people cared about me." We may gripe with each other, but when an uninvited guest like Ivan comes along with its wicked winds and rising surf to wreak havoc on our land we band together like family. The majority that is.
Natural disasters bring out the best or the worst in people and we saw plenty evidence of both during the passage of Ivan. The marauding bands of looters must be among some of the worst human beings in this country and their acts are among the most painful episodes from Ivan's passing. Every disaster raises questions and forces answers. Gilbert taught us some lessons. And yes we have plenty of lessons to learn from Ivan. The first is that your home is likely to be your disaster shelter and you should try and make it as safe as possible for you and your family. You should store adequate amounts of disaster supplies and eliminate all potential hazards around the house.
Another lesson to be learnt applies to the preparedness of corporate Jamaica. Many companies seem to operate on the thinking that it is better to repair than to prepare. This could have disastrous consequences for a business because disasters are major threats to economic development. My friend who is a tenant in one of New Kingston's high-rise commercial buildings said the only hint of assistance she got from her landlords was the delivery of a roll of masking tape on Thursday morning. Scandalous.
TWO-SENTENCE EMAIL
Tenants in the building who got a two-sentence email that morning were not given vital information about what actions were necessary to reduce the risks to their businesses. Many tenants in New Kingston, in particular, had never experienced a hurricane and the management of the respective properties should have taken time to brief them on what to expect.
Every organisation should have a disaster management plan which should include an annual drill at the start of the hurricane season which is June 1. There should be a comprehensive approach to both reduce the vulnerability to disaster and to mitigate the impact of any disaster. Lesson number three is that many more of us need to be trained in first aid and emergency response techniques. I do believe the Red Cross offers this training but there should be a concerted effort to get householders to avail themselves of these instructions. Companies should encourage staff members to get this training by paying for it if necessary.
The intricacy of operating a generator is another lesson worth learning. The JPSCo., or JPS as I see them calling themselves these days, would be doing a huge service to the community if they were to indicate the proper use of generators. Some enterprising hardware store could also take up the challenge to hold demonstrations so that people do not risk their lives in search of comfort when there is a disaster. Hats off to the enterprising businessman in Trelawny who we are told made some money by charging $40 to charge cell phones on his generator. He saw the need for a service and exploited it.
So as we clean up after Ivan, one thing I can predict is there will be more disasters in our lifetime we can only anticipate them and make sure we remain in a state of preparedness.
Dennie Quill is a veteran journalist who may be reached at denniequill@hotmail.com.
