Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project
Implemented by the Organization of American States
Unit of Sustainable Development and Environment
for the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and the Caribbean Regional Program

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Hurricane Georges

In response to the destruction caused by hurricane Georges in September 1998, the Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project (CDMP) expanded and refocused project activities in Antigua and Barbuda, St. Kitts and Nevis, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. This page describes those activities, provides links to CDMP resources for hurricane hazard mitigation and links to non-CDMP sites containing information on hurricane Georges.


CDMP Activities

Community Preparedness

In Haiti and the Dominican Republic, CDMP built on its ongoing community preparedness and vulnerability reduction activities to provide relief from the disasters caused by hurricane Georges. In Haiti, CDMP provided $2,500 to each of the local disaster committees in Jacmel, Jeremie and Les Cayes. In the Dominican Republic, CDMP is providing $10,000 to the Dominican Disaster Mitigation Committee to support the reconstruction and rehabilitation of community disaster prevention measures that were installed prior to the passage of Georges.

Following Hurricane Georges, the Dominican Republic negotiated substantial reconstruction loans with the World Bank and the Inter-american Development Bank. The implementation of these loan agreements calls for the establishment, by the Government, of a Project Coordination Committee by the Technical Planning Secretariat (STP) of the Presidency. In consultation with the OFDA/Washington office, and the USAID mission in the Dominican Republic, the CDMP responded to a request for assistance from the STP to help it define an institutional and operational framework for effective disaster management in the country. This assistance has two objectives: a) improving the readiness and response capacity for the 1999 hurricane season and b) definining a medium term program of institutional strenthening and capacity building for improved response, preparedness and prevention. A three day workshop was held in March 1999, with participants from key government agencies and private sector institutions to review critical disaster management issues in the country, and to reach an agreement on agency roles and responsibilities in all aspects of disaster management. Following the workshop, an exercise process was started, with the objective of preparing the institutions for the next hurricane season. The exercise addressed the information flow, decision-making protocols and coordination for responding to a hurricane threat, and its impact.

Materials and expertise development as part of this CDMP supported effort was incorporated into a World Bank/IDB funded institutional capacity building project, which started in mid-1999, with the effectiveness of the World Bank and IDB loans for recosntruction following Hurricane Georges.

Hurricane-resistant Housing and Construction

In Antigua and Barbuda and St. Kitts and Nevis, the CDMP offered to support training in hurricane-resistant home retrofit and rehabilitation. This training was provided in conjunction with local institutions in these countries and will build upon CDMP's existing Hurricane-resistant Home Improvement Program.

In the Eastern Caribbean, CDMP and the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) followed the publication of the Hurricane Procedures Manual with national workshops for small hoteliers in Antigua, St. Kitts/Nevis, Jamaica and the Bahamas on hurricane preparedness and structural vulnerability reduction.

The CDMP and the OAS Natural Hazards Project conducted a workshop October 15-16 in St. Kitts on school/shelter vulnerability reduction. Agencies and officials in the Eastern Caribbean responsible for school construction and maintenance participated in this workshop. The workshop is the culmination of a year-long school vulnerability audit and hazard reduction project financed by the USAID/OAS CDMP, the OAS Natural Hazards Project/ECHO school vulnerability reduction program and the Caribbean Development Bank. Countries participating in this project can access CDB loan funds for retrofitting of schools and shelters.

Hazard Mapping and Loss Estimation

On 21 September 1998, the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology  (CIMH) ran the TAOS/L storm hazard model for Hurricane Georges, using the hurricane track, as forecast by the US National Hurricane Center. Maps of estimated storm surge levels were produced for the islands of Antigua and Barbuda. The maps were sent to the national meteorological office in Antigua for use in planning response to the hurricane. Subsequently, CIMH developed storm hazard maps for Antigua and Barbuda for use in emergency management and development planning.

Also subsequent to hurricane Georges, the CDMP and the World Bank collaborated on a probable maximum loss cost estimate for public infrastructure from hurricane events in the Eastern Caribbean. This study produced a comprehensive inventory of all facilities and structures; estimated replacement values; a summary of potential retrofitting, protection or reconstruction needs; and an estimated loss potential associated with a maximum likely hurricane event. The resulting information can be used by the countries and the World Bank as a basis for preparing proposals for retrofitting and reconstruction of investment projects.


CDMP Resources for hurricane hazard mitigation

Hurricane-resistant Housing and Construction

Hurricane-resistant Home Improvement Program Toolkit: This document describes CDMP's safer housing programs, with information on hurricane-resistant building techniques for single-family houses and information on establishing and running a revolving loan program to support housing retrofit work.

CHA/CTO Hurricane Procedures Manual for Hotels: In the fall of 1998, the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA) and the Caribbean Tourism Organization (CTO) produced a Hurricane Procedures Manual as a guidebook for tourist establishments in the Caribbean. The Caribbean Disaster Mitigation Project supported the development of a chapter on structural vulnerability reduction for inclusion in this manual.

Community Preparedness

The Dominican Disaster Mitigation Committee has produced a Script for a Radio Spot on Hurricane Preparedness (Guión de la Cuña Radial de Huracán), which had been produced and distributed in the Dominican Republic prior to this hurricane season.

Electrical Utilities

To assist the electrical utility sector with reduction of its vulnerability to natural hazards, the CDMP developed the Manual for Caribbean Electric Utilities Addressing the Issue of the Mitigation of Damage caused by Natural Hazards to Civil Works. Subsequent to the passage of hurricane Luis in 1995, CDMP supported a Case Study of the Effects of Hurricane Luis on the Buildings and other Structures of the Electricity Sector of the Antigua Public Utilities Authority, which includes recommendations for reducing the hurricane vulnerability of the Antigua Public Utilities Authority.


Links to other sites

Weather-related sites (maps, forecasts): National Hurricane Center (Florida) | Watson Technical Consulting | The Weather Channel | Caribbean Meteorological Institute

Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA): Situation Reports

CDMP home page: http://www.oas.org/en/cdmp/ Project Contacts Page Last Updated: 20 April 2001