NEMO, CDERA prepare for hurricane season

Devastating hurricanes were probably the farthest thing from most Belizeans minds as they enjoyed the beautiful weather over the Easter holidays. But in just a few weeks the season will be on us again. However, regional and local preparations are already underway as News Five found out today at the National Emergency Management Organization headquarters in Belmopan.

Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency has just completed its sixteenth board meeting to review plans revised in the aftermath of recent hurricanes. CDERA Coordinator Jerry Collymore believes the agency is better prepared now, but there are some questions about the level of regional support that can be expected in times of crisis.

Jerry Collymore, Coordinator, CDERA
?Well the first challenge that we have identified or the major challenge that we have addressed as a board is the need for more baseline information on what response resources are available, because that will determine the nature and extent of external support. The members, CDERA participating states, have agreed on some deadlines to provide this information so that we can start our strategic planning. In any event, it is our expectation that all the revisions of national and response plans should be completed by no later than the end of May.?

Now in its sixteenth year, Collymore believes the organisation has matured since it first its first response to Hurricane Andrew in 2002 and then to Hurricane Ivan in 2005.

Jerry Collymore
?We have moved from an organisation that in its first stage of operation had to deal with Hurricane Andrew in the Bahamas where the systems were barely enunciated, not developed; to one, where our experience in Ivan shows that we have a deep infrastructure for managing disaster events and sharing information and services to respond to these. This is not the end of it, the dialogue that we have shaped with our partners on looking at the source of risk, looking at the line between development and disasters is a reflection of the maturity not only of CDERA thinking, but of the governments of the region.?

It is almost four years that Belize has been spared from hurricanes however near misses of recent storms have caused the National Emergency Management Organization to remain vigilant and prepared. NEMO?s Coordinator, Colonel George Lovell, says while there is no way to prevent storms, Belize has come a long way in its response capabilities.

Col. George Lovell, Coordinator, NEMO
?We now have full cooperation from all sixteen participating states throughout the Caribbean. What this did for us is for us to be better able to manage the 2006 hurricane season, which is projected to be one of the more busier hurricane season.?

A total of seventeen storms have been predicted for the 2006 season.