Barbados Director of Emergency Management Urges Students to Embrace Hazard Awareness and Early Warning Systems

Director of the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), Kerry Hinds, is encouraging more students across Barbados to be more aware of the various hazards that are likely to affect the island.

Hinds made this appeal as she thanked students for participating in the Department’s Early Warning poster competition held as part of activities to mark Hurricane Awareness Month celebrated in June under the theme Early Warning, Early Action, Saves Lives!

Speaking during the prize-giving ceremony at the DEM recently, the Director explained that the competition was designed to raise awareness about the hurricane hazard.

“We saw firsthand how we were impacted by Hurricane Beryl, not just Barbados, but Grenada, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Jamaica,” she said.

She told students that the destruction caused by a hurricane or severe weather event can wreak havoc on countries like Barbados.

“The storm surge was horrific. We are left to try and recover the fishing industry. In addition, the south and west coast beaches and coastal roads were also severely impacted,” she said.

The Director encouraged the students to keep up to date about the hazards that could affect the country, early warning systems that are available to warn about any potential threat, and actions they should take to prepare for a possible impact.

The first prize was captured by Fabianna Holder, of Class 3 at the St. Judes Primary School; Class 4 student, Diamond Prescott, of the Bridgetown Seventh-Day Adventist Primary School, took second place; while J3 student, Arya Kirpalani, of the St. Gabriel’s School, captured third place. Shaniyah Hall of Class 3 at the Reynold Weekes Primary School received a special mention for her entry.

During the presentation ceremony, second place winner, Diamond Prescott, stated that his “take away” from the competition was that “early warning saves lives”.