Natural hazards and development in Jamaica

Dangerous settlement patterns along Hope River

As we approach the start of another hurricane season, I’m still concerned about the preparedness level in Jamaica. It seems that there is no end to people wanting to develop and redevelop vulnerable areas, yet I don’t see any checks and balances being done to prevent this in any real sense. Sure we hear a lot of talk, but I don’t see this being translated in to practice.

By the way, earthquakes, floods and landslides, the other 3 hazards we’re vulnerable to, don’t have seasons…

Still, insurers, engineers, disaster managers and the general public seem to dwell on the June-November period, and it’s as good a time as any. But nearly a year on, we haven’t seen any movement on the Hope River valley, which was devastated by TROPICAL STORM Gustav last year. Over a year later, and Fern Gully is just starting to get fixed after the NON-HURRICANE heavy ranfall last April. And we still see housing developments popping up in Jack’s Hill etc.

Check out this 3D virtual tour of Jack’s Hill done by the Mona GeoInformatics Institute and the Unit for Disaster Studies at UWI. We’re coming out with some cool new tools for the natural hazards realm shortly, including our Natural Hazards Atlas, Natural Hazards Simulator and the Natural Hazards Locator System. Check out our booth at the Green Expo this weekend!

Here’s the link to some of our hazards work so far.