NASSAU, BAHAMAS — United Kingdom officials yesterday held high-level discussions with the country’s disaster response agencies and personnel to fine-tune their disaster response for The Bahamas ahead of the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane Season.
UK Regional Defence Attache to the region, Lieutenant Simon Wesley, told Eyewitness News that the UK has restructured and reorganized its approach after learning lessons from Hurricane Dorian in September 2019.
Experts have predicted the region will be impacted more frequently by severe weather phenomena in large part due to global warming.
“We as UK defense absolutely learned lessons from Dorian as did the wider UK government and there has been a process of restructuring and reorganization within UK government and UK defense as to how we approach hurricane season and delivery of disaster response to the region,” he said during an interview at NEMA headquarters.
“I think it is important to recognize each year we have the Disaster Management Oversight Committee that convenes as a cross-government organization within the UK that monitors our preparations and then shifts to monitoring the development of weather patterns and convenes on a very regular basis to look at those weather patterns, how they’re developing, what the threats maybe and then how we as the UK government are positioned to provide a response, if that’s requested and required.”
One of the changes since Dorian is the UK has a pre-position force — the HMS Medway — that can be bolstered from season to season, permanently on station in the region to provide an immediate response; and up to 1,000 personnel ready in the UK that have been trained for disaster response on request over a range of capabilities from airfield specialists, engineers, helicopters and security assistance.
The HMS Medway provided physical and financial support to St Vincent and the Grenadines after a volcano erupted in April 2021, and to Haiti following a major earthquake last August.
“We know from our work in this region that you have got to be ready for those hurricanes and other disasters that might come this way,” said British High Commissioner to The Bahamas Sarah Dickson.
“From a UK perspective — because we have a permanent ship in the region in the offseason let’s call it — this moment where the storms are less prevalent in the runup to the hurricane season — the ship does try to visit as many countries as possible to prepare, to meet people, to hear about the plans because different countries take slightly different approaches.
“One of the things that I think is really interesting about The Bahamas is that multi-island dimension that you don’t get in other parts of this region in quite the same way and as we learned from Dorian, it isn’t necessarily the main island that gets hit — it can be the cays, it can be outer islands.
“So, we have been talking about that dynamic with NEMA and how we can support.”
Following the passage of Hurricane Dorian, which ripped through parts of Abaco and Grand Bahama, the United Kingdom and its naval personnel were able to respond and provide support swiftly as officials have been following the track of the deadly storm and positioning assets to respond.
Asked about how the UK’s disaster management response has changed and been impacted amid the coronavirus pandemic and whether this has challenged the timeliness of response, Commander of the HMS Medway Commanding Officer Christopher Hollingsworth indicated that the highest health protocols are observed to ensure
He said as part of the ship’s safety protocols, officers are required to be fully vaccinated and receive booster shots; frequently screen using RT-PCR tests and lateral flow tests (rapid antigen tests), and do so before leaving the vessel
“Quite rightly… what we don’t want to do is go in officer port in a disaster relief situation having brought COVID in because that just creates a further issue, so we’re quite rigorous in how we control leave, and the sort of restrictions that are imposed on the sailors because actually maintaining our COVID-free status is vital to what we do,” he said.
The high commissioner and UK defense personnel met with National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Director Captain Stephen Russell, RBDF Commodore Dr Raymond King, and other officials yesterday to discuss disaster preparedness and the needs of The Bahamas given its unique geographical makeup.
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