How prepared are you for a hurricane? Well, that's what one researcher at the University of the West Indies in Mona Jamaica Campus is seeking to ascertain.
For this, she has designed a survey in collaboration with a number of disaster preparedness agencies.
00:00The Atlantic hurricane season officially starts on June 1st annually, and the Caribbean, as well as other countries which fall in the Atlantic Basin, are put on alert.
00:09While some countries have experienced serious devastation time and time again, others are often spared.
00:16But what are the levels of preparedness among people in these countries, and what is their perception concerning hurricanes?
00:22It's data that graduate researcher at the Caribbean School of Media and Communications, UWE Mona, Jamaica campus, Carol Ann McKenzie, is seeking to compile.
00:32For that purpose, as part of her master's degree, she has embarked on a 2025 Caribbean hurricane preparedness survey, which is being supervised by Dr. Nalini Piper.
00:43According to McKenzie, the unpredictability of hurricanes can sometimes affect people's preparedness response.
00:49They sometimes have something called optimism bias, where they think, well, it wouldn't happen to them, or sometimes they're just so overwhelmed with not knowing what to do, they do nothing.
01:03Other times they think that, you know, there's a higher power, God is a tree, so we don't need to do anything.
01:09And it'll be interesting to collect wide perspectives of Caribbean nationals as to how they believe and how they see hurricane preparedness.
01:23The survey, which targets Caribbean countries, also sheds a comparative light on the perspectives of people in countries where the impact from hurricanes has been high.
01:32How does that experience differ from someone, let's say in Jamaica, who has had experiences or has had persons and family members impacted by hurricanes?
01:45So what extent does experience impact how risk is perceived in action?
01:51McKenzie says this can be integral to mapping how information is disseminated, which can in turn have a positive impact on behavioral change.
02:00It's a signpost as to where more work has to be done.
02:04Remember that this is not a population census, it's a sample, it's representative as possible, but it would need to be further elaborated with a wider national study with boots on the ground.
02:21Some of the questions in the survey are crafted around response recommendations from disaster preparedness agencies.
02:28So, for example, a statement would be, I have non-perishable food supplies for more than three days in an emergency.
02:36So you would answer, well, almost true or really true, very true, almost always true.
02:42So you can select which answer option most reflects your state.
02:47Another action would have been, I have an emergency kit, like first aid supplies, essential medications for myself and my family.
02:54Mackenzie notes that preparedness for the hurricane season by responder agencies begin well in advance of the actual season.
03:03The survey is being disseminated by officials from the Med Service, the ODPM, TEMA, the Red Cross and UWE alumni via email blast and WhatsApp.
03:13We have also posted a link to the survey on our CCN TV6 Facebook page.
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