News that repairs and enhancements at 11 designated shelters have been completed is most welcome exactly one week before the start of this year’s Atlantic hurricane season. Missing and broken doors, windows, etc. were replaced, and new storm shutters installed said to withstand tropical cyclones of up to category 5.
Perhaps just as important was providing what are still makeshift facilities with generators, air conditioning units and an above-ground water reservoir along with the necessary electrical and plumbing work to make them somewhat liveable. One must consider that people unable to return to their possibly damaged homes afterwards might be forced to stay there a few days, although a better alternative would have to be found soon also because various shelters are at schools.
The intention is to build two large multi-purpose centres more suited to serve as temporary accommodations for a great number of people in the future, but those now fixed at least offer inhabitants who fear the worst a place to go. In the past it even occurred that they could not be opened until after the storm, which obviously defeats the purpose.
The project paid from the Dutch-sponsored Trust Fund managed by the World Bank was executed in close cooperation between the National Recovery Program Bureau (NRPB) and the Ministry of Public Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment VROMI. Hopefully, there will be no reason to use the hurricane shelters, but knowing they are ready on time is certainly a reassuring thought.
