Govt mapping vulnerable citizens in hurricane readiness drive

As Barbados braces for a highly active hurricane season, the government is adopting geospatial mapping to protect its most vulnerable citizens, people empowerment and elder affairs minister Kirk Humphrey has said.

The technique creates customised maps to represent objects with geographic coordinates, providing a visual model of the real world.

Designed to track and assist the vulnerable population and better coordinate disaster response and support, the digital tool not only pinpoints the locations of vulnerable residents but also details their specific needs, ranging from disabilities and elderly care to housing conditions.

Humphrey revealed that the programme has recorded extensive data on nearly 18 000 individuals so far.

“We can tell, for example, if there was to be an event today, where those persons are located, the bus routes in relation to where the persons are, how close the nearest emergency facility is, those kinds of things,” he explained, adding that the mapping allows for speedier decision-making before and after a disaster.

Beyond disaster response, this initiative aims to empower individuals by providing tailored support and resources. “Once the information is in, we have data on qualifications, skill sets, skill deficits, and training interests. We want to be able to respond but more importantly, we want to use that information to empower people,” the minister said.

Home affairs minister Wilfred Abrahams, whose ministry also benefits from the data collected, reflected on the lessons learned from past disasters, which exposed significant gaps in data verification and response coordination.

“One of the major challenges we had coming out of Hurricane Elsa was verifying the information. We had reports of damage, but verifying exactly where that damage occurred, the extent of it, and who was affected was a struggle,” he noted.

To address these challenges, the government has consolidated efforts across ministries to create a comprehensive and responsive system. “This is preparation on a level that we’ve never done as a government. It is novel, entirely people-centred, and is meant to make our and your lives easier post-disaster,” he said.

With forecasts of 23 named storms and five major hurricanes this season, both ministers urged citizens to report vulnerable individuals to ensure comprehensive coverage. “There is a tendency for people not to admit their vulnerabilities. I’m asking Barbadians to be honest and look out for their neighbours,” Abrahams said.

The data being collected not only seeks to provide help post-disaster but also aims to reduce long-term welfare dependency by addressing systemic poverty, said people empowerment minister Humphrey. “The tragedy of the Barbadian experience is that we’ve had systematic intergenerational exchange of poverty. So you’ve had one family passing on poverty… we have to be able to break that system systematically so that a mother who is poor doesn’t necessarily have children who are poor,” he said, noting the importance of empowerment programmes within his ministry.

He praised the One Family programme, which focuses on the thousand most vulnerable families, for its work in “moving persons out of poverty”. “The hope is to make sure that they can get work,” he said, reiterating calls to the private sector to hire some of those listed within the programme.