DDM Director urges residents to stay alert after hurricane season
The 2024 Atlantic hurricane season officially ended on November 30, leaving behind a record of 18 named storms, 11 hurricanes, and five major hurricanes.
Despite the season’s conclusion, the Director of the Department of Disaster Management (DDM), Jasen Penn, urges residents of the territory to remain vigilant.
Speaking on ZBVI Radio, Penn reflected on the season’s activity, noting its unpredictability and impact.
“We had 18 named storms, 11 hurricanes, and five major hurricanes. Tropical Storm Ernesto was the only one that impacted us directly, creating some damage in our area,” he explained.
Penn highlighted how the early formation of Hurricane Beryl influenced the season, creating a temporary lull in storm activity. “Typically, September is the most active month, but this year started slow before things picked up later,” he said. He also pointed out a concerning trend: many storms are now making landfall, which increases the potential for widespread damage.
While the BVI was spared significant devastation, Penn reminded residents that preparedness remains crucial. “Every year, we advocate for persons to prepare as best as they can as these systems are unpredictable in terms of their path, and as we see, it only takes one to create extreme damage,” he said.
Penn cautioned that the region remains vulnerable even though the hurricane season has ended. “You would have had several flooding-type events for the year beginning in May, even just as not too long ago, early November,” he said. With the rainy season still ongoing, Penn urged residents to remain vigilant against potential flooding caused by extreme rainfall.
He also emphasised the importance of reflection and planning for the next hurricane season. “We should evaluate what we’ve done, what could have been done better, and how we plan to improve going forward. Before you know it, we’ll be… moving into another season,” he warned.
Despite the challenges, Penn commended the BVI community for its proactive approach to disaster preparedness. He shared that this year, communities across the four main islands came together to receive training to become better prepared. He added that many private sector partners participated in emergency drills and hazard education sessions and created business disaster and continuity plans. The DDM Director said he hoped these efforts would continue.
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YOUR DEPARTMENT IS A WASTE OF TIME, WAFTER IT HAPPEN THEN YA’LL NOTIFIY PEOPLE. WASTING TAX PAYERS MONEY
What is this department with its huge new building and staff salaries actually supposed to accomplish other than repeating other countries weather warnings a day late. Predicting disaster is what the church does, medic’s look after the injured , I haven’t seen any actual physical measures for mitigation of disasters such as trying to find people capable of passing the first responders exams instead of relying on VISAR or forcing through building regulations to reduce flooding. All we seem to get is “ watch out there’s something coming” & “we told you so ln the event something did happen “
That was harsh.
no wonder he is looking scared