SAINT LUCIA FLOODS AFTER FOUR DAYS OF RAIN

SAINT LUCIA FLOODS AFTER FOUR DAYS OF RAIN DOES THIS SUCCEPTIBILITY TO FLOODING BODE BADLY FOR THE 2011 HURRICANE SEASON? COMPILED BY DAWN FRENCH, SLUNEMO AND GADR MAY 10, 2011

SAINT LUCIA

Surface Trough Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms affected Saint Lucia from April 28 th and continued throughout the day, April 29 th and was expected to continue …

Surface Trough Satellite Imagery taken at 3: 52 pm showing a dense mass of cloud covering most of the Eastern Caribbean.

Saint Lucia Roseau river near Morne d'Or Photo Credit: Veronica Simon

Lessons From the Past Due to the devastation caused by the passage of Hurricane Tomas on October 30, 2010 several communities and their infrastructure are now known to be very vulnerable to flooding and ground failure.

TOMAS BECAME A HURRICANE IN ONE DAY: OCTOBER 30, 2010

Recognizing the danger Tomas represented to locations in the eastern Caribbean, Haiti, and possibly the Gulf of Mexico, all nations were advised to pay close attention to Tomas’ path during the first week of November.

In the eastern Caribbean, Tomas left at least 14 dead, many homeless, and island nations suffering from millions of dollars in damages to banana crops, housing, and infrastructure from wind, flooding, and landslides

Tomas, a CAT 2 storm, was the “the worst in Saint. Lucian history, ” causing the loss of its entire banana crop, which along with tourism, is extremely important to Saint Lucia’s economy.

TOMAS: IMPACTS SAINT LUCIA

Flooding: Key Impacts The Ministry of Health activated their Emergency Preparedness Protocols and evacuated the Soufriere Hospital.

2011 Flooding: Key Impacts Access road to the Soufriere Hospital in the background.

SAINT LUCIA [West Coast]: Soufriere

SAINT LUCIA [East Coast]: Dennery

SAINT LUCIA [South Coast]: Vieux Fort

SAINT LUCIA [Tomazzo]

SAINT LUCIA

THE KEY IS: 1) KNOW THE DISASTER HISTORY OF YOUR REGION 2) KNOW YOUR COMMUNITY

Online Resources National Emergency Management Plan http: //web. stlucia. gov. lc/nemp Family Disaster Plan http: //www. cdera. org/doccentre/familyplan. html Family Evacuation Plan http: //web. stlucia. gov. lc/nemp/plans/Evac. Template. doc Family Disaster Supplies List http: //www. stlucia. gov. lc/docs/nemo/Family. Disaster. Supplie s. Calendar. pdf