ODPM preparing for wet/hurricane season

As the official wet season starts in June, the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (OPDM) held consultations earlier this month to chart a path to mitigate against the associated disasters.

At the National Emergency Operations Centre in Tacarigua, the ODPM, along with other disaster management agencies, held its second strategy planning and preparation workshop.

Participants of the session included members of the Defence Force, police, Fire Service, the disaster management units of the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government, the Tobago Emergency Management Agency, TT Meteorological Service and the Water Resources Agency.

The workshop focused on a "whole-of-society approach" to improve national-disaster readiness and response after the predictions by the Met Office of an above-normal wet and hurricane season for this year. The season officially begins on June 1 and lasts for six months, ending on November 30.

Adding to the challenge of responding to the natural disasters is the management of the covid19 pandemic that has forced many restrictions on the day-to-day operations.

The agencies were required to present their organisations’ pre-, during- and post-impact preparation and response actions to hazards such as torrential rainfall, storm surges, coastal erosion, landslides, flooding and power outages.

The ODPM’s CEO, retired Maj Gen Rodney Smart, challenged the agencies to upgrade their emergency plans, standard operational procedures and practices ahead of the impending season in order to incorporate a more integrated and synergistic approach to disaster management at the national level.