By Spokesman Newsroom
BASSETERRE, St. Kitts (Wednesday 3rd July 2024)- In light of social media videos showing individuals in neighboring islands outside during the passage of Hurricane Beryl, National Disaster Coordinator for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Abdias Samuel, is urging the public here in St.
Kitts-Nevis to take storm advisories seriously. “One of the things that is saddening to see is that people are not adhering to the advisories. You see people on the outside. I mean, I’ve seen some images where people are tying a roof while this is happening.
You know, that’s not a practice we want to encourage. We are seeing that people did not heed to the warnings of going to a shelter,” he lamented while speaking on Freedom FM’s ‘SKN Today’ episode aired live on Tuesday 2nd July 2024.
Samuel echoed sentiments of his colleague Senior Meteorological Officer of the St. Kitts Met Office, Elmo Burke in sharing: “I am more concerned not for what the state is doing in terms of preparedness, because the state has an obligation.
What we are concerned about is the behavioural change that is required in the general public. That is the challenge that we have right now, because we can be prepared. We know what we need to do. Well, the question is, will the general public adhere to the warnings?
Because it’s quite evident. Have you seen the videos of persons out on the port? Have you seen the videos of people outside?” He gave an example about the public disregarding for advisories based on an observation made while on his way the radio station that morning.
“While I was heading here, I was on the Bay Road and I had to turn around; that’s why I was a few minutes late. And the police has the railroad in the vicinity of Caribbean Supply blocked off because of the high surf that we are experiencing in the Caribbean Sea.
And you want to tell me that there is no entry sign. You see the waves coming over and persons are still going through. This is what is happening postimpact of the storm. This is where lives are lost. This is where injuries are sustained.
And guess what? Then we put – LOCAL NEWS – more strain on the state response. So therefore, we need the support of the general public; it’s the biggest stakeholder that we have.” Samuel spoke about the importance of home preparedness.
“The advisories. We keep preaching the message. You know, prepare your home. Assess your property. Look around. Look at your vulnerabilities. We know windows and doors are critical points of egress and ingress. So we need to batten down.
Have somebody assess your roof. If you don’t have the capability, reach out to the state agencies that may find some time to give you some assistance,” he advised. He underscored the necessity of community spirit and adherence to advisories.
“Do you know how much persons right now wish that they had even listened to one single advisory, whether it be going to a shelter?” Samuel asked. Highlighting state and private sector readiness, Samuel noted, “Our shelters, we are working on those to make sure that they are in a state of readiness to support that, as we have various groups to deal with shelters.
Our state of collecting information pre-impact, the director of public works would have indicated that his team is ready to address that situation. The sectors of welfare relief supplies, the permanent secretary, has indicated that they are continuing their preparedness activities, but they are quite comfortable that they are ready to respond to the need of the general public.” He also mentioned the preparedness of security forces.
“The Commissioner of Police and the Commander of the Defence Force would have indicated that the hurricane orders are already in place with their respective agencies to be able to provide security to the
critical facilities and the general public, indeed,” he noted. Samuel highlighted a recent meeting convened by Prime Minister Terrance Drew, where the readiness of various sectors and infrastructure were assessed.
“The meeting was convened yesterday by the Honorable Prime Minister. We looked at our infrastructure, we looked at all of the different sectors and where they are in terms of readiness. And we are quite confident that we can weather the storm.
No, you can never be too ready,” Samuel stated. Reflecting on the situation in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Samuel expressed solidarity and emphasized the importance of preparedness. “My colleagues in St. Vincent and the Grenadines, I know they did everything possible to be as ready as they can.
They have done well. However, we have seen the devastations in those islands and I just want to pause and express the solidarity of the NEMA, the government of St. Kitts and Nevis, and the people of St. Kitts and Nevis with our colleagues and friends in that area,  he said.
Samuel underscored the role of the private sector in disaster preparedness. “Also, we want to take this opportunity to highlight the private sector because they are a key component of all the preparedness and response activities.
And we are quite comfortable that they have done enough or sufficient to be able to provide us with the basic food services in the event that we have to be impacted,” he said. He stressed the importance of public adherence to advisories, saying, “Again, I want to encourage the general public to take a look at what is happening in Tobago, St.
Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, and to do the necessaries to prepare. So from the state, we are still identifying gaps and we are doing our best to ensure that we fill these gaps.” Samuel informed that the tourism sector and ports of entry are also prepared.
“We receive reports from the operations officer of the port right now, and we are quite comfortable that they are in a state of readiness to be able to withstand whatever system may come our way.” He added, “Our colleagues at Nevis as well, they too have reported that they are in a state of readiness. They would have – NEWS –
had a meeting as well yesterday afternoon, in which they too were reassessing the preparedness activities and so on. So, we are quite comfortable for now that the state in itself is in a state of readiness to support the citizens or residents of St.
Kitts if we are to be impacted.” Samuel stressed the critical role of public cooperation. “So the problem is if the general public does not listen to the advisory and adhere to the advisories, then we’re going to have challenges.” According to him: “If the general public is not supportive and in tune, then every other system is going to be a failure.
Right? So the general public has to play its part. We have the example of what has happened with Beryl…” Front Page Photo: Screenshot of a viral video with over 60,000 plays showing a woman trying to hold onto her roof during the passage of Hurricane Beryl, believed to be in Jamaica.
Video posted on Thursday 4th July 2024, via Facebook/Reloaded News Alert 7
