History will prove that the headline of this article may not necessarily be the truth, since a tropical depression is a tropical cyclone with wind speeds of 33 knots (38 mph) or less. Once a tropical depression has wind speeds of 34 knots or greater, it is called a tropical storm. A tropical depression has evidence of organized winds and thunderstorms in contrast to a tropical wave or disturbance. Sometimes, the media will confuse people by naming a tropical depression. This is usually a case where a storm did move up to a tropical storm strength, but later was downgraded back to a tropical depression.
This can make some tropical depressions actually have a name. If the storm dissipates before becoming a true tropical storm, it will usually be given a number. For example – TD1 is a reference to Tropical Depression One.
So at some time we may want to make the appropriate correction in clarifying the fact that Erika, which was a tropical storm of winds in excess of 39 miles per hour did not really hit Dominica but we were affected by the rains which accompanied her. In fact we can count our blessings and get down on our knees and praise God for sparing us from the wind, because, if Erika had really hit us and we were to deal with fallen trees and flying roof tops, our situation would have been far worse.
I am also curious to know what type of phenomenon that Erika was that she could pass far north of us, spare Guadeloupe and bathe us with so much rain. Was there a gap between the winds of Tropical Storm Erika and the water that she gave us which allowed Guadeloupe to go unscathed? I guess the experts will give some explanation at some time.
There is also the misconception of people attempting to compare Erika with David, there is absolutely no comparison in the two natural hazards. The destruction suffered by the people of Petite Savanne, Good Hope, Colihaut, Coulibistrie, Check Hall and some other communities is far worse than what they experienced during Hurricane David but, generally, Dominica was devastated in 1979 beyond compare with Erika. So if the rains from Erika put us back by 20 years then David threw us back by 50 years and it would be correct to state that we are still recovering from David.
It appears to me that people outside of Dominica have the impression that the entire island was grazed to the ground and that we are in a state of dire need so they should be sending us multitudes of container loads of relief supplies. The images depicting the destruction of Dominica on social media went viral and really struck a nerve, in the international community, that our little rock has been destroyed but the reality is some communities were severely affected and the people in those areas need help, not the entire population.
As we move further away from the event into reconstruction and rehabilitation, I wonder whether the information that we are sending out depicts the reality of the situation as to where we are and what has to be done.
Dominicans in the diaspora are still busy filling up containers with sardines, water, clothing and other relief materials to ship to Dominica. In one case a diaspora group is trying to raise US$9,000.00 (EC$24,300.00) to ship some containers of relief materials to Dominica. Can they be told that this money is needed for the construction of a river wall, a bridge or a house?
Has the message gone out to the diaspora that the assistance that we need is hard cash, money, heavy equipment, building materials and, in some cases, technical expertise to rebuild houses that were destroyed, relocate the people who have been evacuated from the dangerous areas, clear our river beds from boulders and silt, construct river defense walls, allow the rivers and water courses their space, rebuild bridges, clear the drains, retrofit bridges and walls that were not damaged.
Dominica needs the expertise of geotechnical engineers, volcanologists, geologists and other experts to look at our terrain and the open wounds that the rains of Erika left us, while it is still fresh, in order that we take the necessary action to save lives in the future and prevent a repeat of the mistakes made by our generation in believing that we can occupy and encroach on river land and water courses.
In a few months the vegetation will be back on the scars of the landslides on the hills, mountains, rivers and valleys. Just as the people of Bagatelle and Good Hope tend to forget the site of their disasters so too, in a few years, the people of Petite Savanne and Dubique will be tempted to return to their properties. History has proven that people continue to repeat the same mistakes as time passes with prolonged intervals between disasters.
The rains of Erika have exposed Dominica’s vulnerability to natural hazards, the lessons learnt from David have all been forgotten and/or disregarded. This is an opportunity to correct our mistakes, it is the time for communities to get together to map out the danger zones that the flood waters have so vividly identified.
Amidst the destruction there is evidence, in the rubble, to show that some bad human practices contributed to the destruction and Climate Change and Global Warming may not be all that responsible after all.
Some years ago I pursued a post-graduate course in Disaster Risk Reduction at the Community Level at the United Nations-mandated University for Peace, in Costa Rica. I returned to Dominica with much enthusiasm, determined to conduct training sessions in Disaster Vulnerability Assessments in the various communities but the response was so discouraging that I quickly shelved the idea and opted for the hosting of a radio program where I was able to share the information.
Now that the rains from Erika have caught the attention of the population, the Office of Disaster Management (ODM) should immediately embark on conducting Vulnerability Assessments in communities across the island. The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies have produced a handbook on: “ What is VCA? An introduction to vulnerability and capacity assessment.” and states that any part of this handbook may be cited, copied, translated into other languages or adapted to meet local needs without prior permission from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, provided that the source is clearly stated. Every Disaster Preparedness Committee should download a copy of this handbook for guidance in Disaster Risk Reduction.
We are still in the hurricane season, therefore 21 days after Erika, the focus should shift to our vulnerability and what action that should be taken with disaster risk reduction as the primary goal.
We, as a nation, should all join hands in expressing our gratitude to all our brothers and sisters in the diaspora and the rest of the international community for their support. The task ahead is costly so financial assistance is what we require at this time and every Dominican man, woman and child should be mobilized to participate in the reconstruction process. Maybe the diaspora can adopt a bridge, a river wall or something where their financial assistance can be targeted.
At this stage in the reconstruction process the Physical Planning Division should be involved in mapping out the buffer zones for all our water courses, walls constructed along the river banks should not encroach on the river bed, people should not be tempted to construct houses on river land. Builders and contractors should be busy rebuilding homes side by side with the people who lost theirs.
But most importantly, a message should be sent out to the people overseas that what Dominica needs now is money to rebuild, otherwise, all the resilience we boast about will soon disappear when re realize that half of the containers of relief supplies that we received was not really necessary.
Dominicans will need all the donations……….some now or some later…………………..and if it is excess then take a large warehouse…………put all the excess clothes etc in the warehouse and sell it for EC$1.00 or $EC2.00 and all the money raised can be donated towards those projects in need. Nothing is in vain if it can lead to a helping hand in some way.
Food will be needed long term. People have lost their jobs and will not be able to afford for months after unless they get another. Their children will need clothes. Children grow quickly. For now they might have, next few months they might not. People are still receiving items because they obviously need it. In the short term those who needed clothes to put on got. Say thank you.. Now what about when they have to go back to work. They do not need just one or two outfits, they will need a wardrobe. There’s home clothes, there’s church clothes, there’s work clothes. For those who have to rebuild, it would help if they got clothes for years, then they don’t have to buy and they can save. We are still hearing some people are not being taken care of and hearing of the poor distribution of supplies. I rather give clothes and food. I won’t put money in the Gov’t account because I don’t know where it will go. I can tell the author was not affected personally.
Everything you wrote above prior to the following interest me immensely: seen I am familiar with the science: however; the following caused me to loose interest.
“In one case a diaspora group is trying to raise US$9,000.00 (EC$24,300.00) to ship some containers of relief materials to Dominica. Can they be told that this money is needed for the construction of a river wall, a bridge or a house?”
Whereas I know it will cost many millions of dollars; and undoubtedly billions of dollars in order to get part of the country back to where it was, and even in a better position; you should not ignore the fact that food, and clothing are also necessary! Remember, the rain came nation wide, and has washed many crops away including the staples utilized for daily survival; this means there has to be a shortage of food on the island. Twenty-four thousand three hundred dollars cannot prevent the construction of a bridge, unless it is something built not to last!
First of all, I want to thank the writer of this article for our Dominica and its people.
I beleive that every little bit helps. We should be encouraged to stay positive, and accept
every angle of opportunity. Like one person mentioned in the “post comment” section,
their ” minus 20 degree weather donation”. The article is not saying that such donation is useless, I understand that, the article wants us to focus on prevention before we act on cure, so don’t take your efforts as a negative waists of time.
To the writer of this article, it is obvious that you have the international experience and educated expertise in summarizing the actions that is needed to be taken to help protect our island and its people.
I live in an international Country for the last 26 years, and have had the opportunity to understand such approach your article is emphasizing.
In closing, I want to thank you so much for your efforts to protect and our island, Dominica and its people.
to the observer who wrote this commentary, i love to read and i started reading and stopped, 1. because the experts have explained tropical storm erika, and yes it was a storm. please read all the info on erika from: http://www.nhc.naoo.com
Personally, I do not see the reason for the crap, you wish people would read, the writer of that article knows what she/he is talking about, as I said the first part of his comments interest me because I know the science.
If you are on DNO, as often as some of us, you may have read where I wrote a similar comment in which I explained how hurricanes and cyclones are formed and why! What I wrote was in response to some so called preacher telling people that God is trying to get the attention of Dominicans.
The person who wrote that article perhaps has knowledge of “physical Geography” which is a science, the person might be involve into meteorology (which is a science that deals with the atmosphere, and its phenomena, and especially with the weather, and weather forecasting.
If you are not academically educated, no matter how much you Google the Internet will never educate to a level of someone who is highly scholastically educated!
And by the way rather than using your real name to write your nonsense, you are so damn stupid, you are impersonating someone who’s real name is World Peace; the man changed his name legally to World Peace, he is a multi millionaire, who are you?
For those who do not know who is World Peace, the following might help: He played with the Los Angeles Lakers; this goes to prove how dumb some Dominicans are!
Scott also told Oram that Randle has been working out with Metta World Peace, despite uncertainty about whether the former Laker will be back with the team next season. By practicing against World Peace, one of the strongest wing defenders in recent NBA history, Randle is showing what he’s got and giving Scott something of a measuring stick.
Said Scott on World Peace, “He’s still in great great shape his body looks fantastic and he’s been great as far as seeing him running up and down the floor.
Here I am looking for a way I can come home and help my village and my people. Here I sit hoping that this disaster taught us to communicate properly and begin putting expertise, and humbleness together in a way that can be beneficial to our communities and our island. Every time I read something that makes a little sense, or something that can make us all think of possibilities of becoming progressive, we come along and make it political.. Stop the politicking. The outside world is watching and reading. There are villages that need rebuilding. Do not just write about what you know, go out there and use what you know. Maybe you can use that knowledge to assist the local government to rebuild the river walls in a way that will prevent the flooding. Our people are becoming so blinded and dependent on government that even the so called educated ones are becoming operational and malfunctioning puppets. In order to develop and move forward we need to become creative thinkers. Forward we go
I agree that the effects of Tropical Storm Erica have been greatly exaggerated. I even heard the international relief coodinater go as far as to say that all villages on the island have been affected, that is a bold face lie!
Very interesting and informative article – easy to read and understand. Thank you.
From reading the article a number of things stood out.
1. As a nation many of us have not learnt any lessons from the passage of previous weather systems, Hurricane David in particular
2. Some people living in areas prone to landslides and floods in particular tend to forget disasters that have occurred in these areas before – Good Hope, Petite Savanne, Bagatelle, Massacre, Layou etc
3. Some of our practices such as dumping of rubble/ waste materials, household refuse, white goods, derelict vehicles etc into valleys, cliff-sides, along mountain slopes, hill sides etc are has hazardous as the weather systems themselves and adds to our own vulnerability
4. Correct dissemination of information is important, and that people must listen only to official sources of information
5. We must be careful not to send the wrong signal to the international community that the entire country is shut down…
5. Continued
… or paralyzed when in fact this may not the case at all.
6. Recognizing that Dominica is vulnerable to so many forms of natural disasters, and recognizing that our actions tend to compound this vulnerability, the need for an effective and ongoing public education programme is necessary especially in Disaster Risk Reduction and Disaster Vulnerability Assessment at the Community level
7. The need for a team of trained experts to be available is also important. Part of Government’s areas of priority for higher education should include experts trained as Geotechnical engineers, volcanologists, geologists etc
I believe the article was insightful and reminds us our island, while beautiful is very vulnerable to natural disasters… we must therefore do all within our powers to ensure that our actions do not add to this vulnerability…
LEt’s all remember Climate Change and Global Warming is real…
Very well said Writer, “We are still in the hurricane season, therefore 21 days after Erika, the focus should shift to our vulnerability and what action that should be taken with disaster risk reduction as the primary goal.”
Disaster awareness and preparedness promote risk reduction and help to better manage disaster risks. We have to build disaster resistant infrastructure to withstand future disaster.
Let us not think because the trees have grown back in place that the area is safe to rebuild. Let us rebuild but let us build smarter, stronger and much safer. Let us put together a long term plan— a road map—- on how to respond and recover in the aftermath of a natural disaster.
As a person with a professional technical background, I cannot be more please to see this article. My concern is that the people who really needs to read this to understand that they must allow technical individuals to form a group to decide on how to collect the evidence of this mammoth crime scene does not get it. A lot of the evidence is being cleanup and the areas with long scares along the mountains will be taken over by new vegetation because we are not organize in data collection. My hope is that we still have a little window of opportunity open to get the data for processing to provide informed advice of climate resilience and sustainable development before we go full steam ahead with rebuilding. Sure the pressure is on to satisfy the populace, but we need to have some public discussions in that regard to inform Dominicans.
Three very sound pieces of Tech advice: (1) it is the time for communities to get together to map out the danger zones that the flood waters have so vividly identified. (2) At this stage in the reconstruction process the Physical Planning Division should be involved in mapping out the buffer zones for all our water courses. (3) Dominica needs the expertise of geotechnical engineers, volcanologists, geologists and other experts to look at our terrain and the open wounds that the rains of Erika left us, while it is still fresh. Indeed DA really have brilliant minds…. who taking notes!!!!
You have to be very careful when you write articles that criticize other people’s hard earned 0 degree or minus 20 degree weather donation. If you have the know how to prevent another devastating storm, then you need to talk to the PM about your great ideas. However, it is not a good read for us Dominicans living abroad who sent much need water (to help prevent the outbreak of gastroenteritis) food & clothing to the less fortunate. It is easier to go to my pantry and share my food with others than to send cash and this is the state for many people, I was forever grateful for all the people who sent us food and clothing after hurricane David. It was truly a blessing. After reading your article, why would I want to help Dominicans anymore than I have. Please edit your writing when it entails criticisms of other people money. We all know that the entire island was not grazed to the ground. Social media and family and friends clearly showed that our little rock was not completely…
My opinion, grossly taken out of contex. that too is healthy, thou misplaced. We all in this together.
I am girly girly and I endorse this article. 1000 thumbs up to An Observer.
This article has started to bring to the fore the truth about the rains that accompanied Erika and the destruction. Now that Dominica has quickly returned to 95% of normalcy the world will see that some of our shouts for help were exaggerated.
Let’s be honest with ourselves, did Dominica really suffer a billion dollars worth of damage? Remove Petite Savanne from the equation and let’s start to do some quick calculations: How many bridges? 12 x $2,000,000.00, Airport $30,000,000.00, Roads …… $200,000,000.00, River walls …… 150,000,000.00, Dhta said their loss is about $40 million, manufacturers $30 million, houses .. how many were insured.
Does that add up to a billion dollars even with the exaggerated costs that I gave?
They saw the tons of debris the waters deposited and everyone thought it was destruction of unimaginable proportion but as soon as the debris is cleaned up we can clearly see that the damage was not as severe as the politicians would make us believe.
95% normalcy?? With 20 + schools not functioning, villages without water, access to some villages by road is still difficult with one village still not accessible, only one airline operating schedule flights is LIAT with 2 flights a day, farmers not able to export as they normally would, many of our roads are now in a state of disrepair, hundreds of people are still homeless and living in shelters, many still at risk of contracting diseases as a result of the raking up of the environment by Erika. If with all this you are saying that Dominica has achieved 95% normalcy after the storm, then your lets be honest paragraph is also very dishonest and can’t be taken seriously.
Yes it sure did suffer over $1 billion in damages. stop making your own calculations behind your employers computer ( in other words stop using your employers time to make your personal business) and take a trip around the country to see for yourself how much damage has been done.
Harry Boy ,you are a joke open your eyes and stop writing things u know nothing about =DOPE.
YOU ARE MISCHEIVOUS INDEED!!!!
To the composer of this article. I totally get you. Your piece gives me slightest encouragement that there are still people with commonsense in Dominica. I have said here that this is a scientific, engineering and environmental problem and you have pointed out most of the solutions.
There are some off us out there with years of experience helping protect other countries who are way more advanced than Dominica, yet when we come home and try to help, free of charge, everyone blocks their ears and closes their eyes. I understand your frustration. We have a inferiority complex of ourselves and our capabilities and unless that changes we will get no where.
Can you say what radio program you hosting would like to listen.
That article is so ignorant that I would not advice anyone to take the time to read. To demand that the people in the diaspora send cash towards infrastructure is most insensitive thing one can think off in a time when people are in immediate need of basis necessities to sustain life. To minimize the immediate basic needs demonstrate that the writer of this article have no understanding of the situation or is outright twisted in his/her mentality. I think actually both applies! The writer even goes further to minimize the extent of destruction in the many communities and the many people affected. That is more than sending out the wrong message. Furthermore people in the diaspora willingly helping their fellow countrymen and women, family and friends are operating within and beyond their means. If they had the type of money required for infrastructure that would be long provided. The writer ignores the fact that most in the diaspora have personal financial responsibilities/commitments…
You read the article to the extent that you have commented extensively, yet you would prevent other people from reading it if you had the power to erase DNO from the web.
You have a twisted mind and your level of intelligence borders on illiteracy. I’m glad the author of this article did not reveal an identity because operatives like you would use your venom against the individual, so you have received the message and the messenger remains intact.
Now go ahead and read the article again and you’ll understand that Dominica does not need that volume of relief materials, we need money to rebuild our infrastructure, not expired food stuff and old clothes.
The people who are affected by the storm are being taken care of.
I figure out yo have no common sense. The article is very true when you get all containers of relief. i want u to use the same relief and use as a bridge. the food is not all. Furthermore the estimation was indeed exaggerated not billions.
Paul Williams, the writer makes alot of sense to me. There is so much ranting and exaggeration over the media, I am happy that someone (the writer) is in a state to provide this solid information to the populace. In the weeks ahead the authorities will be tired of having to clear food items for relief. Too much focus is being placed on food and water. The relief should be done in an organized way where an audit is done and a listing of the critical needs is done. We need building materials, Heavy equipment, manpower and expertise in the fields of engineering, urban development and risk mitigation. We have to think of the bigger picture and I think the writer has done just that. We have to understand that we need to do things differently to prepare the people and the country for disaster. We were just not ready. An EOC was put together almost a week after the storm. Shelters were in disarray, there was no food and adequate drinking water at any of the leaking shelters.
I could not agree with you more. A lot of emphasis is being placed on relief when we in fact need hard cash to rebuild. This was a very strange storm indeed, in areas where even a small drizzle were severely untouched went unscathed. Where were the winds, why were our neighbors untouched?
If this storm was just three hours earlier accompanied by winds we would have had more deaths. Is this a message? what lessons have we learnt. If we have not then its sad to say this may just be a warning.
Money to rebuild, but how much money? That we will only know when the technical assessments you correctly point to have been done. And it would be very wise to hold off on any permanent works on roads, bridges, river walls etc until those technical assessments have been undertaken. Don’t let the haste to repair mask the dangers that will continue to exist.
I agree with you too that funds can be raised to adopt a bridge, a road, a school…but do the technical assessments first. The roads, bridges, schools, communities etc that existed pre-Erika will not necessarily exist post-Erika if we are mindful of the lessons of natural disaster.
We hear so much of the leadership of the Prime Minister also Minister of Finance, so far, in my opinion, he has failed since the twenty one days of Erika. Apart from a few committees which he has set up without the knowledge of the leader of the opposition and many other Dominicans, have you seen the face or heard a financial report of the lady who is suppose to be coordination our relief funds. Has the Prime Minister told Dominicans how much money he has received in terms of financial donations from the rest of the world. . We heard a lot of reports from Dominicans and other countries about the tons of food, clothes, water which have been pouring into the country like the rains of Erica, but the cash, that is not for us to know. Do I smell corruption down the road, yes, a leopard can never change its spots.
Your comments are so irrelevant to the situation it is nauseating!!!
@Doc Lov
You Are so correct!