The devastation from natural disasters can be compounded for the vulnerable, such as people living with disabilities.
The Disaster Management Unit of the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government is working on a system that will hasten assistance to that group when needed.
Tonight, we get insight into that, and plans for the expansion of the Community Flood Early Warning System.
Alicia Boucher has the details in part 2 of this special feature, Sustain Or Sink.
01:00But imagine if you're forced to contend with such an occurrence and you have a disability.
01:04For instance, you're blind, deaf or wheelchair bound.
01:08The need for assistance, whether relief or rescue, can more easily become a matter of life and death.
01:15It's something that the Disaster Management Unit of the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government has recognized.
01:21Head of the DMU Jerry David says the unit has developed a system from its shelter platform.
01:27This is where we have all our shelters located.
01:31So what we did, we adapted that and created another, just coming off of that, that is an ArcGIS platform.
01:38Yes, coming off of the ArcGIS platform where we know all our shelters, we said we can now use this to know where all our vulnerable people are.
01:49We have started at local government to map where all our blind persons live.
01:57It is being done in collaboration with the Blind Welfare Association and includes the names and exact geographical positioning of these vulnerable people.
02:07According to David, during disasters, a top priority is to evacuate the most vulnerable.
02:13Each color-coded dot on the map represents a person.
02:17Red, highest risk, yellow, medium risk, and green, lower risk, using a vulnerability matrix.
02:25So for instance, if you live in Penaldebe and you live in the floodplain or on the banks of a river, and you are blind, we definitely will have to hold you as well.
02:34So we know that in a case like that, and we have to evacuate, we have to start to move you first.
02:40Now we have started here at the local government with the blind.
02:44We have been doing training with them in CPR and first aid.
02:48We have also started with the deaf, so we have been doing CPR and first aid with them.
02:54And soon we will have them on this platform also.
02:57Then we're moving on to all the other disabled persons who may be wheelchair-bound, some may be bedridden, infirmed.
03:07The aim is to be able to map all of the vulnerable people in the country.
03:12It's something David states would take time, but it's not just about coordinating with the different associations under which the vulnerable fall.
03:20So you may ask, well, why we can't get all of them now?
03:23Excuse me, not everybody wants to go on this.
03:26So we have to get their permission.
03:28So this is a voluntary thing.
03:29Yes, not everybody wants to go on it.
03:32So we have to ask persons, would you like us to be, well, we're taking a lot of responsibility for them, should we need to evacuate them.
03:42But in this country, there are no mandatory evacuation laws, and it remains strictly on a voluntary basis.
03:50Do you think that there should be?
03:52Yes, there should be.
03:54Respectfully, there should be mandatory evacuation laws that says if a Category 2, 3 hurricane is going to make landfall,
04:04we know very well the communities that are going to be inundated with floodwaters.
04:09As was mentioned in Part 1 of Sustain or Sink, the Community Flood Early Warning System is able to monitor riverine levels in areas where it has been implemented,
04:19enabling agencies to issue advance warnings.
04:23With around 27 stream flow stations set up in various parts of the country,
04:27and 60 crucial areas outlined by the Water Resource Agency for monitoring, the DMU is halfway there.
04:34On the 15th of September, I'm going to another meeting where the UNDP is going to fund even more stream flow stations.
04:42Do you know how many?
04:44I know for now we have working, maybe about 27 or so, working all over the country because we are trying to cover all the major rivers.
04:55David adds that additional grant funding is needed.
04:58The DMU is also expecting to get some rescue boats from an international donor,
05:02and David hopes that more institutions will come on board to assist in getting cameras attached to the stream flow stations.
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