A recent survey says 4,645 persons died due to last September’s passing of Hurricane Maria over Puerto Rico (see related story), almost 100 times the 64 officially listed by government. The news comes just days before the start of the 2018 hurricane season.
Some in St. Maarten too wondered openly whether the low casualty count from Hurricane Irma two weeks earlier hadn’t been rather unrealistic. There is no evidence of such, but that many more lives potentially could have been lost locally in the record-setting storm seems obvious. The people should be commended for their survival skills, also thanks to the immediate and massive relief effort with help from Dutch kingdom partners and elsewhere.
One lesson certainly learned is that planning to open shelters only following the storm is clearly not the way to go. The whole idea is for those who fear their home won’t be safe to seek refuge beforehand, also because moving around soon afterwards can become extremely difficult and dangerous.
Of course, if these tropical systems indeed keep getting bigger and stronger, structures used as emergency accommodations must be adapted to withstand their power. Whether it’s a direct result of climate change or not, this is a scenario the region must face.
Other than building as hurricane-resistant as possible without having to live in windowless concrete bunkers or even underground, there seems to be little a territory in their destructive path can do. More urgent research into the phenomena to look for scientific answers appears justified, but for now combating global warming may be the only way to at least mitigate this seemingly growing threat.
