Hurricane
Maria Recovery + A Positive Course of Action
Storm
Clouds Gathering
On
September 18th, 2017 the eye of hurricane Maria passed directly over
Dominica. Winds hit at speeds of 195 miles per hour; first from the
east, then from the west.
The
wind brought torrential rains. Rivers and drains overflowed carrying
tangled masses of branches, fallen trees and mud into homes and
businesses. In a matter of hours entire villages were reduced to
piles of debris. This damage was inflicted across the entire nation
at the same time. From the outside it looked to many like a death
blow.
The
people of Dominica, however, are not the kind to wait passively for
help. They have a highly resilient and adaptive culture. The world
at large has a lot to learn from these people.
Post
hurricane Maria report Commonwealth of Dominica - Sept 28 - The scene
here is surreal. Devastation everywhere. No visible signs of
organization or rule of law.
Over
a week after the storm and still no where to buy food (or anything
else for that matter). Still no utilities available anywhere. Bathing
and washing clothes in rivers and streams. Many have to travel
significant distances to get drinking water.
Gasoline
sales are rationed on a per person basis. Long lines for that, and
supply still doesn't meet demand (sells out).
Communications
are only available in a small zone on the west coast. We have to
travel a significant distance to send messages.
There
is still no coherent relief effort in place. People keep expecting
food deliveries, but as of this writing they still haven't come.
The
mood in heavily populated areas is tense (looting and violence has
been rampant in the capital). The conditions in the shelters are
unsanitary and completely chaotic. Many are trying to evacuate.
In
the mountain villages where most are farmers the situation is much
more calm. Fortunately all of our locations are in the mountains, but
even up in these areas there will be food shortages if distribution
is not restored soon. The storm destroyed most crops.
We
reconnected with more of our crew on Monday and Tuesday. Still some
we haven't reached.
On
Monday we worked together to put on a temporary the roof for the
common house at Pongovi, then we moved east to clear a house that was
filled with mud from a landslide, and got running water from their
catchment restored.
There
is an insane amount of work to be done; far more than is feasible
with our current team. There is also a shortage of equipment and
materials for repairs (there is still no way to purchase anything).
Our
first outside volunteers are going to attempt to enter this week with
supplies. We don't know yet whether they will be allowed in. There
are conflicting reports as to the status of the ports. Some say only
relief workers from established NGOs are being let in.
Once
we can confirm that entry is possible we will post contact
information for one of our people on the outside who will be
coordinating incoming volunteers equipment and supplies.
The
trees are starting to get their first leaves back already.
23
September 2017 (United Nations) – Pleading with all countries in
the United Nations General Assembly – large and small, rich and
poor – to come together to save our planet, the Prime Minister of
Dominica, where the landscape, ravaged by back-to-back hurricanes
“resembles a warzone,” said his and other islands in the
Caribbean need help now to build their homelands back better.
“I
come to you straight from the front line of the war on climate
change,” Roosevelt Skerrit said in an emotional address to the
General Assembly’s annual general debate. He said he made the
difficult journey from his storm-battered country “because these
are the moments for which the United Nations exists!”
Just
two years after powerful tropical storm Erika had ripped through the
region – leaving his country, known as ‘nature island’ a land
of dirt and dust – he said Dominica, the Bahamas and others had
been ravaged by perhaps the worst hurricane season on record, with
Irma and Maria leaving loss of lives and livelihoods, and as yet
untold damage.
Mr.
Skerrit said that warmer air and sea temperatures have permanently
altered the climate between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn. Heat
is the fuel that takes ordinary storms – “storms we could
normally master in our sleep – and supercharges them into a
devastating force.
The
most unfortunate reality, he said, is that there is little time left
to reverse damages and rectify this trajectory. “We need action and
we need it now,” he said.
“The
stars have fallen, Eden is broken. The nation of Dominica has come to
declare an international humanitarian emergency.”
He
concluded by urging ownership and responsibility for perpetuating
harm that desperately begs attention: “Let it spark a thousand
points of light, not shame.”
In
an equally impassioned address, Darren Allen Henfield, Minister of
Foreign Affairs of the Bahamas, expressed his concern with the
effects of environmental degradation and climate change on small
island developing States, which are “threatening their
survivability.”
“With
what we have witnessed just recently with the passage of hurricanes
Harvey, Irma and now Maria, I cannot underscore sufficiently the
importance the Bahamas attaches to combating climate change, and the
preservation and protection of the environment,” he said.
Stressing
that “climate change is global,” he emphasised the damage that
hurricane Irma had in the Bahamian archipelago. Indeed, while the
Bahamas had not suffered a direct hit, it was not totally spaced. The
southern islands experienced serious damage. Additionally, tornadoes
inflicted considerable damage on the northern islands of Bimini and
Grand Bahama.
Highlighting
the election of a new Government for his country the past May, the
Minister spoke on its intention of creating the first fully green
island in the region, out of the destruction of Ragged Island, which
became uninhabitable.
“For
the first time in its history, The Bahamas evacuated whole
communities to safe quadrants ahead of Hurricane Irma. What’s next:
wholesale evacuation of the entire Caribbean?” he asked, calling on
the international community to act fast and in a co-ordinated way.
In
his address, the Foreign Minister also highlighted the “need to
re-evaluate of the measurements used to determine economic
well-being” in the country, to allow them to receive development
assistant
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