Dávila, The Greater Caribbean This Week

The Greater Caribbean Region is characterized by images of paradise. When the word "Caribbean" is uttered, it automatically conjures up images of beautiful beaches, palm trees, a brilliant sun, seas of crystal waters, exuberant vegetation, etc., in other words, pure tranquility. The reality however, is that these climatic "blessings" do not always exist and, on many occasions, they become hostile toward their people.

Mother Nature launches attacks on this geographic zone several times each year and quite often, these attacks are constant and merciless. There is a large number of natural phenomena taking place and they range from earthquakes, which generally hit the continental region, tropical storms and hurricanes mostly affecting the insular region, to volcanic eruptions and floods affecting the entire area.

These events have given rise to a significant decline in the sustainable development of countries' economies and in some instances, some countries have experienced setbacks in the development of their infrastructure by as much as 20 years. There are countries in the Greater Caribbean that have recorded as much as 11.8 percent [1] of the entire population being killed or affected by some natural disaster.

Unfortunately, estimates regarding the presence of phenomena are not at all encouraging. For example, taking into account estimates on the number of disasters occurring between 1970 and 2002, it has been observed that there have been approximately 500 disasters in the Greater Caribbean region. If we examine these frequencies by decades, we would notice that during the eighties, there was an increase in the frequency rate by roughly 50 percent, while the nineties recorded an increase of 30 percent [2].

As is evident, the presence of phenomena that have provoked disasters in the region is rather significant. During the last two decades, the annual growth rate has been four percent [3], which means that if this trend persists, by 2018, the number of disasters would have doubled. In other words, in only 15 years, beyond 2003, the region would be affected by the same number of disasters that was recorded in twice the time in the last three decades (1970 to 2000).

The causes can be attributed to different inter-related phenomena, such as climatic change, the depletion of the ozone layer, the melting of glaciers, increased pollution, land erosion, etc.

If we look at the economic impact on the Greater Caribbean, it can be estimated [4] that at least during the last 30 years, approximately one billion dollars was lost (since 1998) as a result of the effects of disasters.

The reality is that with every passing day, the governments of the region have fewer and fewer opportunities to plan development programs and activities, since they have to constantly redirect resources to cover unexpected emergencies.

The region is continually focusing its efforts on activities to prepare for and prevent surprises from Mother Nature. With better prepared countries, we would be inclined to reduce the economic as well as material impacts, but more importantly, we would be inclined to reduce the loss of human lives.

[1] World Disasters Report, International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (2002)

[2] Source: Center for Economic and Environmental Studies (CIESA) based on CRED statistics

[3] Source: Center for Economic and Environmental Studies (CIESA) based on CRED statistics

[4] ECLAC 2000

Carlos Dávila is the Transport and Natural Disasters Director of the Association of Caribbean States. The views expressed are not necessarily the official views of the ACS. Feedback can be sent to mail@acs-aec.org.

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