PM Roosevelt Skerrit shares Dominica's preparedness for 2022 hurricane season

Prime Minister of Dominica Dr Roosevelt Skerrit discussed country's preparedness for 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season on Sunday.

Monday, 30th May 2022

Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit during his weekly show Annou Pale

Prime Minister of Dominica, Dr Roosevelt Skerrit, interacted with Programme Officer at the Office of Disaster Management- Mandela Christian and Chairman of NEPO's Shelter Committee- Glenroy Toussaint and put light on Dominica's preparedness ahead of the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season. Prime Minister stated that Dominica remains vulnerable to the threats of storms and hurricanes, and the government is making efforts to overcome these complications by building more resilient infrastructures. "Every year, we must renew our efforts as a nation to strengthen our system to protect our citizens and communities. Since 2017, we have committed to building capacity at the individual households and community levels to position Dominica as the first climate-resilient country in the world," stated Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit. Speaking about the recent commissioning of two emergency shelters at Jimmit and Castle Bruce, Prime Minister stated that the government is ensuring that the people in all communities can access safe, clean and well-equipped spaces in the event of major disasters.

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The Atlantic Hurricane Season 2022 starts on June 01 and is predicted to be above an average season with a prediction of three to six major hurricanes, and twenty-one named storms. “We in Dominica are very familiar with these types of experiences that it only takes one, just one to make a landfall in Dominica to leave devastation behind it,” stated the Prime Minister. Chairman of NEPO's Shelter Committee- Glenroy Toussaint stated that the National Emergency Planning Organization (NEPO) and Climate Resilience Execution Agency for Dominica (CREAD) to work to enhance the community strength of their capacities as well as capabilities to respond to adverse weather events. “One of the key things that we have done collaboratively with CREAD is that we did an assessment of communities to identify their vulnerabilities by distributing the communities on four different categories such as the most vulnerable, vulnerable, least vulnerable and less vulnerable,” stated Toussaint. He stated that with the different strategies CREAD and NEPO identified 13 most vulnerable communities, 28 vulnerable communities, 11 less vulnerable communities and 10 least vulnerable communities. Toussaint stated on the basis of various categories, the authorities are prioritizing facilitating these communities with various equipment to increase their emergency response. “We have been going through a process, and we have safely trained 260 people in communities. We have seen a strengthening of disaster management committees at community levels,” added Toussaint. Programme Officer at the Office of Disaster Management- Mandela Christian stated that a comprehensive disaster management strategy using an inclusive holistic approach is being optimised.