Hurricane season ends with many lessons to learn

December 1 begins the merriest time of the year, and while this is true for the people of the Caribbean, it not only ushers in the Christmas season but marks the end of the Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Anxiety levels in Barbados and the region were heightened as a result of the ominous forecasts of a very active 2024 hurricane season with a great probability of monster hurricanes with the force that could kill and destroy property, loomed.

The prediction was for 23 named storms, of which five were to become major hurricanes. For Barbadians, the jolt of the 2024 hurricane season was Hurricane Beryl which developed quickly in late July and was headed in a westward direction that would place the island in its path.

While history suggested that early August was an unlikely time for a major hurricane, Beryl emerged and became a devastating Category 5 system. It would veer away from a direct hit on the island but even the swells which accompanied Beryl caused tremendous physical damage to coastal infrastructure and beaches and severely hobbled the island’s fishing industry.

Petite Martinique, Grenada, Jamaica, Dominican Republic, Cayman Islands, and Saint Lucia, all felt Beryl’s wrath with the major damage being caused by the unusual surges along coastal areas.

It was the early warning that the region required — that it should not become complacent. In the case of Barbados, the lesson was that June, July and August do not represent a grace period. While tradition and history suggest September and October were the peak period for big storms, Beryl demonstrated that a Category 5 hurricane during the first week of August is not an improbability.

The World Meteorological Organisation (WHO), which is the United Nations’ meteorological agency, reminded that Hurricane Beryl was the earliest Category 5 hurricane on record and was especially destructive.

Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley has been on a relentless mission to heighten the consciousness of the world to the direct impact of climate change on the economies of small developing countries like Barbados.

“Will we be too late to save as many as we can from the climate crisis; too late for us to save as many as we can from the ravages of war; too late to provide the food that so many need?”, she asked during an address to the United Nations last year.

Earlier this year, in a more aggressive posture, Mottley argued that countries on the front lines of climate change should have their debt forgiven, arguing that this should be a mainstream position and not a novelty.

The impact of climate change on weather patterns may be resisted by some influential politicians and other figures, but residents of coastal areas of states like Florida in the United States, understand the extent to which climate affects their lives and economy.

After billions of dollars in damage after successive years of direct impact, many Floridians have found themselves in an insurance desert as several leading insurers have deemed the risks too high to provide continued coverage for natural disasters.

Farmers Insurance was the first to pull out of Florida in 2023. Progressive, another big name in the American insurance industry reduced its presence in the state. AAA, Bankers Insurance, AIG, and Lexington Insurance were also some of the insurers reducing their presence in Florida.

High among the reasons for pulling back natural disaster coverage in that state were climate change leading to more severe disasters; rising cost of reconstruction; increased reinsurance costs; and more people and property in high-risk areas, such as flood zones and wildfire-prone neighbourhoods.

Though it may appear that the resilience of Caribbean people  allows them to pick up the pieces after every destructive weather event or disaster, the fact remains that the countries in the region cannot afford to have their economies and infrastructure reduced to rubble every two or three years. It is too traumatic at the individual and national levels.

Undoubtedly, the case has been made for resilience to be factored into the national policy on building standards; the proximity of key infrastructure and installations to coastal areas that expose them to increased risk; and food security and access to potable water which become deeply concerning issues after a disaster.

When the new year breaks in just over three weeks, Barbadians will have six months to get their act together and formulate their hurricane season disaster plan as the chances continue to increase that a serious weather event is likely to come our way.