Dominica: Hurricane Response, 31 Sept 2018
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DOMINICA: HURRICANE RESPONSE INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION FOR MIGRATION SITUATION REPORT NO. 16/ 31 SEPTEMBER 2018 A beneficiary receiving her certificate at a ceremony in St. Joseph. Photo: Dwight Thomas SITUATION OVERVIEW Through efforts made by the government of The morning after KIRK had made landfall, a Dominica, humanitarian actors and other regional and tremor was felt across the island, resulting from international entities, Dominica is moving full steam a 5.6 magnitude quake 108 km ESE of Dominica. ahead in rebuilding mode. In November, the country will Meanwhile, 14 communities still lack official celebrate its 40th anniversary of independence and the emergency shelters, and several of the named shelters six-week celebration has already commenced. Patrons across the island are in need of repair and upgrade. appear to be excitedly anticipating the activities ahead. Elections are expected within the next year Some community members who only have limited access and supporters of respective political parties to radio stations, have limited opportunities to receive are being more vocal on local and social media. direct official information updates. Thus, the system The environment proves to be peaceful and of communication with these parts of the population there no threat of civil unrest is anticipated. should be reviewed systematically and receive support. During September, Dominica was placed on “Hurricane Interpretation of official weather updates for the Watch” and “Tropical Storm Warning” as a response to understanding of the general public is poor, and there is a the ISAAC storm (Hurricane Isaac was downgraded to need to monitor the movement or potential movement a Tropical Storm and eventually dissipated). Two weeks of increasingly unpredictable systems at shorter periods, later another Tropical Storm Warning was issued for the to ensure the population is prepared and informed. system named KIRK, which moved southward toward Saint Lucia and away from Dominica. 1 While the importance of HAM radios for maintaining emergency communication within the island and externally was recognized after the passage of Hurricane Maria one year ago, remedial measures have not yet been put in place. There is also a lack of preparedness for other types of disasters, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis. Throughout September, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) continued to assist the government with housing recovery efforts by providing housing repairs and construction and with preparation for the rehabilitation of 12 collective shelters in several communities around the island, improving emergency preparedness and communication, and providing durable solutions for the IDPs still resident in collective shelters. IOM is also developing proposals to support the Youth Development Division to mitigate against migration due to unemployment and lack of opportunities, which affects the Burton Vidal of the Salisbury Disaster Committee at youth and the national population by extension. the Certification Ceremony. Photo: Dwight Thomas Beneficiaries at a certification ceremony in St. Joseph. Photo: Dwight Thomas 2 A beneficiary in Salisbury signs her completion certificate. CCCM • IOM has received approval and began to operationalize a project to support • The program will also provide training on the emergency preparedness through emergency pre-positioning of non-food items and HAM shelter, with funding from the Office of (VHF) radio training and equipment. With US Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA). guidance from ODM, IOM continues to place emphasis on formulating and distributing key • Under this project, IOM has started a collaboration messages geared towards preparedness for the with the Ministry of Environment, Climate Resilience, hurricane season and other possible disasters. Disaster Management and Urban Renewal, the local Government Department, the Office of Disaster Management and the involved communities to prepare for rehabilitation work on 12 previously identified emergency shelters around Dominica. SHELTER • IOM will coordinate with the Local Government • A total of 678 households or approximately 2,034 Department to ascertain which of the emergency individuals have been assisted; 663 roofs have shelters still house IDPs. With the support of been repaired and 15 t-shelters (core houses) the global DTM team, IOM will conduct a survey were constructed in the communities of Mero, to determine their status and identify the Dublanc, Woodfordhill, Coulibistrie, Marigot, opportunities to arrange durable shelter solutions Wesley, Calibishie, Wesley and Mahaut, among for those in collaboration with the government. others. Funding for IOM Dominica’s operations is provided by DFID, ECHO and Australia • A “Dominica Collective Shelter Manual” will be Aid, in addition to an in-kind contribution developed as the basis for a policy, and training by China Aid distributed through UNDP. provided in CCCM to 150 Shelter Managers in collaboration with the OFDA training capacity and the Office of Disaster Management in Dominica. 3 • DFID and ECHO funded roofing programs closed at the end of September 2018. IOM will continue to IN THE COMMUNITIES repair roofs with other funding sources and plans to expand its t-shelter construction for vulnerable • Stakeholder engagement has intensified in families in the southern village of Grand Bay by taking local and other media with achievement of over what is left of the operation of CARITAS Antilles. the milestone of 600 repaired roofs and the recognition of one year since Hurricane Maria. • After a series of certificate ceremonies during the last week of September, IOM confirmed the • The IOM Dominica Facebook page is serving as a completed roof repair works in the respective useful tool for increasing community engagement. areas, with the assistance of the village council The highest performing post in September provided and in the presence of the communities and information on household emergency preparedness government representatives. Carpenter teams and gave an update on Hurricane Isaac and Tropical are currently verifying all finished roofs and Storm Kirk which were threatening Dominica. The made final modification / repairs to comply with second highest performing post was a link to an the Dominica Building Standards before final article on Dominica News Online headed: “One Year handover to the 566 beneficiary families who Later…”, in recognition of the one-year mark since were assessed at the end of September 2018. Hurricane Maria. The IOM Dominica Facebook page now has 377 likes. 75% of the fans are • IOM continues to solicit the assistance of the women and 24% men. 259 have their location set government of the Commonwealth of Dominica to Dominica. During the month, the page reached regarding housing repair needs of families who are 7,500 people, received 850 post engagements fostering children or who have specific disability and 23 new followers joined the fan base. concerns. While repairs have already begun, many of the properties have above average sizes and repair costs, which might delay the completion. • In partnerships with Habitat for Humanity and the Youth Development Division, 71 individuals from across Dominica have been trained in basic carpentry, including the provisions of the Dom- inica Housing Standards (Building Code). In to- tal, to date 164 Dominicans have been trained in basic carpentry and better building tech- niques by IOM since the start of operations. • IOM employs more than 60 individuals, includ- ing 36 carpenters. Four migrant workers initially Presentation on IOM being guided by the principles of contracted in partnership with Habitat for Hu- humanity, impartiality, neutrality, and independence. manity Trinidad and Tobago remain on the island. Photo: Dwight Thomas CONTACTS: 1 767 245 0658 Cnr Old St & Cork St, third floor Roseau, Dominica www.iom.int 4.