Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit has advised that the best way to prepare for the approaching hurricane season is by paying up all outstanding property insurance premiums and packing an emergency bag in case of flight. He noted that people lose out when their property is not insured, under-insured, or with outstanding premiums since the insurance company will not be obliged to settle claims during any hurricane disaster.
“Ensure that your insurance payments are up to date and that you are not under-insured as we were all told after Hurricane Maria,” Skerrit said. “Please engage your insurance broker, your insurance company and go through your insurance policy very carefully.”
The prime minister further advised that property owners should erect temporary shutters as well as reinforce all doors, windows, and roofs in their house against any impending hurricanes. He said it is even important to have an emergency bag packed in advance in case of any emergency evacuation.
“We don’t have to wait for when there is an approaching storm or hurricane to put those preparedness matters in place,” he added. “We need to start now if we have not started.”
Meanwhile, Local Government Commissioner Glenroy Toussaint said the need to build hurricane shelters in the country is reducing. He said the reasons for the decline is that people now construct standard houses, adoption of a neighbourhood sheltering approach, and abundance of government constructed hurricane-resilient houses across the country.
Toussaint added that the government has identified up to 4,000 vulnerable people in the communities that must be taken in into hurricane shelters if the hurricane comes. He said the government has constructed the first regional emergency centre – the Layou Emergency Centre – in Layou where people from Layou, Mero, part of Tarreau, and the entire West Coast can be sheltered at the centre.
“I must say that we have reached a milestone in Dominica that we have completed our first regional emergency centre and that is in Layou,” Toussaint noted. “The Layou Emergency Centre that will be handed over very shortly; the facility will be handed over this week to the Ministry with responsibility for disaster management.”
He equally disclosed that the government is looking to hand over completed buildings in San Sauveur, Grand Fond, La Plaine, and Delices among other places to eligible families in that region before the june 1 starting of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.
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