NEMA St. Kitts begins preparedness measures for the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season despite COVID-19

By: Chaïra Flanders

Basseterre, St. Kitts, April 13, 2020 (ZIZ News): National Disaster Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Abdias Samuel says the agency has already commenced preparedness measures ahead of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane Season despite the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

Samuel was at the time responding to questions posed by members of the media during a recent NEOC COVID-19 Daily Briefing where he shared examples of disaster preparedness measures already being put in place.

“We are aware of the Hurricane season and we are going to rely heavily on our 10 national sub-committees. We have a number of sub- committees that are working remotely. We have already begun the preparedness measures. For example, the Housing and Shelter Sub-committee has already done most of their inspections, our Emergency Shelters are already identified and they will be going to Cabinet for approval, and the other processes already have begun”, he explained.

He said that we are possibly impacted by the 2020 Hurricane season, our regional partners stand ready to assist.

“If impacted, then we have some of our regional partners like CDEMA to assist us. We also have USAID/OFDA who have said that they are ready to respond if necessary. However, you know that our borders are closed and if our borders are closed that means that you the citizens will have a great role to play in determining how we respond, manage and how we recover from any impact of any hurricane in St. Kitts and Nevis,” Samuel said.

National Disaster Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Abdias Samuel.