When talking about severe weather systems in the Caribbean context most of us tend to think about tropical cyclones (i.e hurricanes, tropical storms and tropical depressions). However, many severe systems which can spawn flooding need not reach tropical cyclone intensity. Tropical waves, Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) activity, troughs, fronts and jet streams (and at times combinations of these) can induce severe flooding which can cause much loss to the agricultural sector. In November 2004, flooding in Barbados caused significant disruption of agricultural activity. A meandering quasi-stationary upper level trough, along with the ITCZ, a tropical wave, and confluence bands made for a very wet November in the southern eastern Caribbean (Caesar 2005). On some days in some parts of Barbados, boats were the preferred mode of transportation. The loss of seeds and plants at varying stages of their development caused an estimated agricultural loss of US $ 0.47 million[1]. This figure does not include any infrastructural damage
[1] Source Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Barbados.
Floods in Guyana in January and February, 2005, not attributed to any tropical storm activity, caused losses in astronomical proportions. January had the highest rainfall on record since 1888. This heavy rainfall in tandem with malfunctioning drainage systems and high tides were blamed for the floods which resulted in between 3 and 5 feet of water in some areas (ECLAC 2005 www.gina.gov.gy/eclac.pdf ). It affected 37 % of the country’s population. In Guyana the agricultural sector accounts for 35 % of its GDP. Fruit, vegetables and tubers amongst others registered the greatest amount of damage estimated at US $ 30 million (Table 10 under category ‘other crops) whilst there was damage to the sugar industry equivalent to 16 % of the GDP (ECLAC, 2005). The total direct and indirect damage to the agricultural sector caused by these floods was over US $ 54 million.
Table 1 Damage (US $ millions) to sub-sectors of agriculture (ECLAC, 2005 www.gina.gov.gy/eclac.pdf)
|
Damage |
Direct |
Indirect |
Total |
|
Sugar |
10.4 |
1.3 |
11.7 |
|
Rice |
7.2 |
1.2 |
8.4 |
|
Other crops |
28.4 |
1.5 |
29.9 |
|
Livestock |
2.9 |
0.2 |
3.0 |
|
Fisheries |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
|
Forestry |
0.3 |
0.1 |
0.4 |
|
Farm roads |
0.7 |
|
0.7 |
|
NARI |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.2 |
|
GSA |
0.1 |
0.1 |
0.1 |
|
Total |
50.1 |
4.4 |
54.5 |
3.1 Flood Mitigation in the Caribbean
The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) through a study in 2001, found that flooding is the most frequent hazard in 90 % of its sixteen member countries. The organization therefore found it necessary to initiate two projects to provide flood hazard information as a mitigation strategy.
3.1.1 CDERA projects (www.cdera.org )
The two pilot projects are aimed at providing flood hazard maps and vulnerability assessments for seven of its member countries. The Caribbean Disaster Management Project (CADM) is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The project is providing flood maps for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados. The second project, the Caribbean Hazard Mitigation Capacity Building Project (CHAMP) is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and executed by the Organization of American States and will provide maps for Belize, The British Virgin Islands, Grenada and St. Lucia. The maps and vulnerability assessments are included in a database on www.cdera.org/doccentre. The maps and vulnerability assessments can be used by planners and farmers to improve decision making.