Take warning!
These are the watchwords as Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley pleads with Barbadians to be vigilant and responsible as this year’s hurricane season officially rolls around in a few days.
Speaking after the official opening of the Caribbean Regional Logistics Hub at Seawell, Christ Church, on Monday, Mottley said Barbados could not afford complacency given the damage caused by various weather systems, most notably Hurricane Beryl last year.
“Take warning – we don’t need to repeat it, but we shall repeat it over and over. I’ve lived through Hurricane Gilbert [in 1988], not in Barbados, and therefore, I can tell you when people say that immediately after it passes, you should at least be able to rely on yourself for the first 48 to 72 hours.
48 to 72 hours
“This is to get food to you 48 to 72 hours after, this is to get medicines to you 48 to 72 hours after. So that for those first 48 to 72 hours, have enough tinned food, have enough of your medicines.
“If you’re accustomed to keeping just one course of medicine, that’s going to run out in two weeks, keep an extra one there. Because these are the things that make the difference,” she said.
Mottley said Barbados had a “wonderful” system of district emergency organisations and advised them to ensure they were clear on who the most vulnerable people were in their districts, which she said was an ongoing process. However, she said the onus was
always on the individual.
“If you know that you have a family member who is exceedingly vulnerable and that you cannot be with them or they can’t be with you at the point in time – if the house is vulnerable, then you know where the shelters are. If [the person] is vulnerable, then what is it that they need?
“Is it a result of medical issues? Is it as a result of poverty and the need to access food, and there’s just too many children and too many others depending on it?
“Whatever it is, let us plan for it. Even though the hurricane season starts within a matter of days, we all know that it is an act in progress.
“Don’t believe that you missed the first of June, and you can’t do anything. Every day matters with this. And also, don’t wait until you hear [a system is] coming to go and line up and wonder whether you will get enough, because at some point, you might get to the supermarket and they’ve got nothing left for you. So take warning,” she said. (CA)
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