Turks and Caicos Islands

5.7. Comprehensive Natural Disaster Management
Adaptive capacity can be measured through examination of policies and plans implemented for the
management of disasters, as well as the actions taken following a disaster. Being able to reduce the
impacts of natural disasters on a small island nation is often difficult, especially when facing major hazard
threats on a regular basis. The post-disaster time period is a time when extra resources are needed to
finance imports of food, energy, and inputs for the agricultural and manufacturing sectors. As a result,
efforts to build resilience or adaptive capacity gets put aside while immediate survival, shelter and health
needs are prioritised, along with the remedy of hazardous living conditions.
5.7.1. Management of Natural Hazards and Disasters
The disaster management system can be thought of as a cycle where preparedness, mitigation 5 and
adaptation activities (disaster prevention) are the focus prior to a disaster impact. Following an impact, the
management focus becomes response, recovery and reconstruction (disaster relief). These two parts of the
disaster management system work together and also impact the broader social, economic, ecological and
political system (see Figure 5.7.1).
Disaster
Relief
System
Disaster
Prevention
System
Figure 5.7.1: Relationship of the Disaster Management System and Society
Caribbean disaster management and climate change
As a region, the Caribbean has made coordinated efforts to prepare for and respond to disasters. The
Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, CDEMA, (previously the Caribbean Disaster
Emergency Response Agency, CDERA) was created in 1991. CDEMA plays a leadership role in disaster
response, mitigation and information transfer within the region, operating the Regional Coordination
Centre during major disaster impacts in any of their 18 Participating States, while also generating useful
data and reports on hazards and climate change. The primary mechanism through which CDEMA has
influenced national and regional risk reduction activities is the Enhanced CDM Strategy (CDEMA, 2010). The
primary purpose of CDM is to strengthen regional, national and community level capacity for mitigation,
management, and coordinated response to natural and technological hazards, and the effects of climate
change (CDEMA, 2010) (emphasis added).
5 In the disaster management literature, ‘Mitigation’ refers to strategies that seek to minimise loss and facilitate recovery from
disaster. This is contrary to the climate change definition of mitigation, which refers to the reduction of GHG emissions.
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Socioecological
System