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Hanover occupies four per cent, or 174.1 square miles, of Jamaica’s land mass, out of 4,240 square miles. It is 21.75 times the size of Kingston which covers an area of eight square miles.
Hanover’s size is about the same as Kingston and St Andrew.
Sheridan Samuels is the mayor of Hanover’s capital, Lucea, and the chair of the Hanover Municipal Corporation. He recently gave a report on the state of preparedness of the parish for the 2025 hurricane season, which begins in two weeks’ time.
The mayor said, according to a report in this newspaper, that HMC “is in an advanced state of readiness as through the collaborative efforts of the parish’s fire, health, roads and works departments, and disaster preparedness committee, all of its 55 shelters have been examined and declared ready”.
This year, he stated is the earliest that the corporation’s parish disaster preparedness team has ever attained such a high level of readiness ahead of any hurricane season. The corporation’s decision to start preparation at such an early stage was driven by “the current climate-change situation, (where) the weather can be unpredictable”.
Lucea’s mayor, and other members of the team, should be applauded on this achievement especially since Hanover has surpassed Kingston and St Andrew, parishes that have access to more human, financial, and other resources than Hanover. KSA’s state of readiness for 2025 has still not been made public.
Doesn’t the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management and/or the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development, have a duty to examine and approve the preparedness plans of each parish and to disseminate the aggregate information before the start of the season each year? Is this information relevant to the National Natural Disaster Policy and Disaster Risk Financing Strategy?
If data about the availability of automated tellers machines across Jamaica is regularly published should not data about the country’s state of readiness to manage storms and hurricane events be shared with the public? Would this aid the goal of building a more resilient country?
Hanover’s hurricane preparedness team should not rest on their laurels. Much more work needs to be done as will be demonstrated below. Preparedness includes more than just shelters. These comments must be understood in the context of last year’s experiences with Hurricane Beryl and Tropical Storm Rafael. They had significant social and economic impacts. Beryl developed from a tropical depression into a major hurricane in 42 hours and moved along a south westerly track below the island. It caused damage of about $32 billion or, 1.1 per cent of Gross Domestic Product, and severely affected the agriculture, mining, and tourism sectors. Economic activities declined for two successive quarters as a result.
The lives and livelihoods of over 5,000 farmers were also disrupted by Rafael. It was estimated to have caused losses of $620 million. Both events underscore the need for enhanced disaster preparedness.
My March 9, 2025, article said the island scored poorly in the World Resilience 2025 Index. It ranked 107 out of 130 countries. Have ODPEM and its parent ministry developed and implemented plans to help the country climb further up the ladder? Macroeconomic stability and political climate are some of the factors that influence foreign investment decisions.
The experts at Jampro and the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation will confirm this. Prospective investors’ perceptions of other kinds of risks like natural disasters are also important considerations. Singapore, incidentally, ranked third and fifth on the Global Corruption and Resilience Indices, respectively. Jamaica’s spot on the former was 73rd.
The headline of my May 10, 2021 article, ‘The Mishandling of ODPEM’, highlighted shortcomings in that agency’s mission and performance and that of its parent ministry. None of the points that I raised was denied. The situation has not improved as this analysis has shown.
Today’s article will conclude, in recognition of the work done by Mayor Williams and his team, with a plan template for hurricane preparedness to guide their future actions. Team members in other parishes, as well as other readers can also use the core elements of the plan below as they deem fit for their circumstances.
A disaster preparedness plan for a small island developing state, like Jamaica, particularly in the context of climate change, must be comprehensive, community-oriented, and adaptive to increasing risks, such as stronger and more frequent tropical storms and hurricanes, rising sea levels, coastal erosion, flooding, droughts, and public health crises.
Plan template
The plan template comprises:
1. Risk and vulnerability assessment:
• Climate vulnerability analysis (for example, for coastal communities, agriculture, tourism).
• Identification of critical infrastructure and at-risk populations.
2. Early warning systems or EWS:
• Reliable, accessible multi-hazard early-warning systems.
• Integration of meteorological data, community reporting, and digital communication.
• Targeted alerts for remote and vulnerable communities.
• Public awareness and education on how to interpret warnings.
3. Public education and community engagement:
• Community disaster training and simulation exercises.
• Education in schools on climate resilience and disaster preparedness.
• Involvement of local leaders, faith groups, and NGOs.
• Use of traditional knowledge and local experiences.
4. Emergency response planning:
• Clear incident command structure.
• Pre-designated emergency shelters (resilient to category-4 to 5 hurricanes).
• Stockpiling and management of relief supplies (food, water, medicine)
• Coordination with ODPEM.
5. Infrastructure resilience:
• Building codes and land use policies promoting climate-smart construction.
• Protection and upgrading of critical infrastructure (roads, bridges, hospitals).
• Coastal defences (for example, mangrove restoration, seawalls, drainage systems).
• Investment in renewable energy and water harvesting.
6. Continuity of governance and services:
• Back-up systems for communication, electricity, and data storage.
• Plans for continuity of local government services, schools, and health services.
• Business continuity plans for small and medium enterprises.
7. Post-disaster recovery and rehabilitation:
• Framework for damage and needs assessment.
• Rapid deployment of repair crews and social services.
• Mental health and trauma support for affected populations.
• Transparent systems for aid distribution and reconstruction.
8. Financial Instruments and Insurance:
• Access to emergency funds and climate financing.
• Promotion of risk insurance schemes for property, crops, and livelihoods.
• Public-private partnerships for funding preparedness and resilience.
9. Monitoring, evaluation, and continuous improvement:
• Regular review and updating of the plan.
• Lessons learned from drills and real events.
Even though the hurricane season seldom lasts more than six months, the cost of coverage for this risk often represents more than 50 per cent of property insurance premiums.
Risk-control measures, like effective preparedness plans, while not reducing the frequency of loss events, can reduce the size of losses. In other words, the time and effort involved in writing and implementing plans will pay dividends in reduced insurance costs over time.
Effective risk-management plans can also determine the availability of coverage during periods when coverage is likely to be in short supply due to increasing threats posed by climate change and economic uncertainty.
Cedric E. Stephens provides independent information and advice about the management of risks and insurance. For free information or counsel, write to: aegis@flowja.com or business@gleanerjm.com
English (US) ·