Garth Rattray
THANKFULLY WE dodged yet another dangerous hurricane. The explanations for our good fortune range from the sublime to the ridiculous. Some say that God is protecting us because we are blessed. Others say that it is our prayers that are protecting us. People even say that our island is so vile that the Almighty knows that we cannot take anymore, implying that unnatural disasters (crimes and murders) and natural disasters (hurricanes and earthquakes) are mutually exclusive. Our last direct strike was Hurricane Gilbert in 1988 (almost 17 years ago); consequently, many Jamaicans have become complacent in their preparedness during hurricane seasons.
Like many people, I became bored to tears at being cooped up in the house all day waiting for the arrival or very near miss of Hurricane Emily. Late Saturday afternoon I went for a drive and was surprised by the number of motor cars, bicycles, buses, taxis and pedestrians (without umbrellas) that I saw on the roads. People were going about their business as if it were just a rainy day. I even saw a car park full of cars belonging to people attending a private function at a popular establishment on Old Hope Road.
DEFIANCE
Defiant fishermen, people living in low-lying areas and residents within vulnerable communities stayed put in spite of pleas from the authorities for their voluntary evacuation. Hopefully, the legislation being proposed by the prime minister for mandatory evacuations (if needed) will not be too long in coming. During a television interview one downtown pork vendor said that the government hatched the entire hurricane story to deprive poor people of the opportunity to earn a living! I surmised that the smoke from the roasting pork had precipitated some sort of paranoid delusional episode.
There were many supermarkets, pharmacies, fast-food establishments, petrol stations and sidewalk vendors braving the inclement weather to do brisk business the entire day. Perhaps they all forgot that if and when storm or hurricane-force winds do strike, the weather conditions will deteriorate so rapidly that things will become very dangerous very quickly.
I must confess that I had hoped that we would have at least got some pretty strong gusts to validate all the preparations that we went through. That way, people would be more inclined to take the warnings seriously. As things are now, each time that a tropical storm threatens, most people are saying that it will not hit us.
A friend of mine remarked that she believed that these near misses provide the citizens and the government with opportunities to practise our preparedness skills. Her point was well taken. Each time a storm or hurricane threatens, our teams go through the drill of setting up disaster plans. Every near miss seems to bring more and more efficient distribution of goods. We also are becoming more adept at recognising our shortcomings and weak points. It's in times like these that the Opposition gets the chance to expose deficiencies within the system (even though it draws the ire of the ministers concerned). Now, at last, there are plans afoot for the Ministry of Finance and Planning to budget annually for disasters and not simply scrape funds from several quarters to effect repairs and to aid the needy.
MORE AWARE
People are becoming more aware of the importance of soil protection, road drainage and the regular cleaning of drains. Our bridges are being looked at more closely. The mayor of Kingston and St. Andrew announced the very wise placement of heavy earth-moving equipment near potentially troublesome areas for rapid response should the need arise. Garbage disposal within communities (especially those abutting gullies and rivers) has gained public attention.
My greatest concern is that individuals will come to see hurricane watches and warnings as cases of crying wolf and get caught unprepared when a really nasty storm eventually strikes. It's early days yet in a hurricane season that promises to be very busy. We can count on many more to come before the end of this year. Whenever a storm threatens, whether or not we get bad weather, we must always assume the worst and always be prepared.
Dr. Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
