Caribbean Disaster
Mitigation Project
Implemented by the Organization of American States
Unit of Sustainable Development and Environment
for the USAID Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance and the Caribbean Regional Program
Caribbean Disaster
Mitigation Project |
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1. Met with Mr. Issac Baptiste at 9:00 am (7 – Sept. ) at Fort Young Hotel, Roseau, Dominica.
2. Provided overview of study and rationale behind study.
3. Discussed infrastructure elements to be addressed in the study. Namely,
4. Mr. Baptiste provided a brief description of the infrastructure elements as they pertain to Dominica. Noteworthy in the discussion was the description of the waste management system for the country. According to Mr. Baptiste, the solid waster collection system is below ground and direct exposure to the hurricane hazard is negligible. Garbage collection in the country is accomplished in a two-step procedure. Residents deposit their garbage to strategically located collection bins. Government trucks collect the garbage from the bins and transport the garbage to a designated landfill. A PML of the Dominica waste management system will therefore consist of a PML on the collection bins and the fleet of transport vehicles.
5. Reviewed with Mr. Baptiste the field Survey Guide developed by CEP. He agreed that the building components and codes described by CEP adequately represent construction and design practices in Dominica.
6. Provided Mr. Baptiste with an example of an actual PML study and explained what is required of him in the proposed study.
7. Reviewed with Mr. Baptiste the form (Form No. PML-1) for the collection of data for the PML and the instructions to fill out the form (Form No. PML-2) to buildings. Also showed how the forms were related to the CEP field survey guide.
8. Discussed in detail the data collection requirements for the infrastructure elements defined in the terms of reference. Elements of the discussions are listed below:
The electric power generation system will be defined to consist of (1) the structures at the generation sites and their contents, (2) transmission lines, and (3) the utility poles needed to support the transmission lines. The format for collecting data on the power generation system will be as follows:
(i) Building and their Contents: Use Form No. PML-1 for each building
(ii) Transmission lines: Use Form No. PML-3
(iii) Utilities Poles: Use Form No. PML-4
Note that for the above infrastructure element, all forms were explained and instructions for filling them out provided.
There are two airports in Dominica: (1) the main airport at Marrigot and (2) a smaller airport in Cornfield near Roseau. The elements of the airport are the main terminal building and its contents, any ancillary buildings, and the runway. Because of their elevations and distances from the coast, both airports are exposed to surge, wave action, and wind. The format for collecting data for airports will be as follows:
(i) Buildings and their contents: Use Form No. PML-1 for each building
(ii) Runways: Use Form No. PML-5
According to Mr. Baptiste, there are 4 seaports in Dominica. For the purposes of this study a seaport is defined to consist of the following elements: Office and storage buildings, wharves, and pavement. The format for collecting data for seaports will be as follows:
(i) Buildings and their Contents: Use Form No. PML-1
(ii) Pavements: Use Form No. PML-6
(iii) Wharves: Use Form No. PML-7
The following form will be used for Road Networks: Use Form PML-8
The system consisted of the following:
(i) Collection Bins: Provide the number of bins, bin geometry, and weight of bins
(ii) Collection Vehicles: Provide the number of vehicles and size and weight of vehicles
(iii) Support buildings: Use PML-1
(g) Hospitals: Use Form PML-1 for each building in the hospital complex
(h) Schools:
Schools are utilized at three levels in Dominica: primary, secondary, and college. There is one government run technical college located in Roseau. The logic for developing replacement costs for schools in each parish is as follows:
(1) Sample primary and secondary school buildings
(2) From sample classify buildings
(3) From sample information provide the percentage of buildings in each class sampled
9. To facilitate communication, Mr. Baptiste will provide appropriate maps to Dr. Stubbs with the following information:
10. Instructed Mr. Baptiste to provide at a minimum the following photographs
Photo # Description
1. Airport in Roseau showing runway and buildings.
2. Airport in Marrigot showing runway and buildings.
3. Seaport 1 (Main Carefield in Roseau)
4. Seaport 2 (Other)
5. Main building in Power Generation Plant
6. Typical Utility Pole
7. Typical Substation (?)
8. Typical Primary School
9. Typical Secondary School
10. Main Building at Technical College
11. Main Building of Major Hospital Complex
12. Main Building and Major Hospital Complex
13. View of Major Waste Management Complex?
14. Picture of Waste Collection
15. Photograph of Major Water Treatment Plant
16. Photograph of Street in Downtown Roseau
17. Photograph of Country Road Showing Potential Mudslide Hazard
18. 3-4 Institutional Buildings
11. The meeting adjourned around mid afternoon.
12. Met again with Mr. Baptiste on the morning of 8 September.
13. Provided him with a copy of notes of the previous discussion. Discussed issues that were still unclear. Also provided handwritten versions of the PML forms.
14. Mr. Baptiste provided a 1:500,000 map of Dominica that contained much of the information needed for subsequent parts of the study.
15. Mr. Baptiste provided a comprehensive tour of the parish of St. George. The main infrastructure elements visited included:
16. The tour ended in the early afternoon
17. Traveled from Dominica to St. Lucia at 5:00 pm.
1. Met with Egbert Louis at 9:00 am at the Avberge Seraphine Hotel, Castries St. Lucia.
2. Discussed elements of the project using the same format as the one generated during the Baptiste discussion.
3. Explained and discussed forms PML-1 to PML-10.
4. A significant amount of time was devoted to a discussion of the water supply system in St. Lucia. According to Mr. Louis, St. Lucia’s water supply system is complicated by the inclusion of 33 dams. The focus of the discussion centered around how one may go about assigning a damage value to the water supply system given available information. Mr. Louis said he could provide data on such items as rainfall magnitude, rainfall intensity, and design return periods. He also claimed that empirical records of repair costs versus rainfall magnitude are present for some elements of the water supply system.
5. The meeting with Mr. Louis adjourned at 4:30 pm.
6. Met again with Mr. Louis on the morning of 10 September 1998. We clarified unsettled issues from the previous discussion.
7. The rest of the day was occupied by a tour of Castries and the surrounding area. The tour of the infrastructural elements included the following:
8. Traveled to St. Vincent at 7:00 p.m.
1. Met with Mr. Brian Huggins at 9:00 am at the Sunset Shores hotel in Kingstown.
2. Discussed and explained forms PML-1 to PML-10 as per the Baptiste and Louis conversations.
3. Huggins thought that in St. Vincent the more modern census tract would be a more logical classification element than the traditional parish.
4. Huggins immediately understood and digested all ten forms.
5. Spent the remainder of the day and the following morning touring various infrastructural sites around the island of St. Vincent. Some of the sites visited included the following:
6. Traveled to Barbados on the afternoon of 12 September 1998.
1. Met with Tony Gibbs of CEP between 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
2. Discussed several issues which included but are not limited to:
3. Departed Barbados on the morning of 14 September 1998.
4. Arrived at College Station on the morning of 15 September 1998.
1. The originally planned trip to St. Kitts, scheduled for 23 September to 27 September, was cancelled because of Hurricane Georges which made landfall on 21 September 1998.
2. Electronic files of all required forms for the study were e-mailed on 29 September.
3. The purpose of the trip was to ensure that the consultant, Lawrence Elemes, completely understood how to fill out the forms as well as the scope and context of the study.
4. Prior to visiting St. Kitts, Mr. Elemes and I had discussed, via telephone, each and every form in detail.
5. Met with Mr. Elemes on the morning of 22 October, 1998 at the office of Elemes Associates in Basoeterre, St. Kitts.
6. Briefly reviewed the purpose and scope of the study with Mr. Elemes and two other members of the firm.
7. During the general discussion several specific items were addressed. These items included the following:
(a) A review for accuracy of the PML forms that were already filled out by Elemes Associates;
(b) A detailed discussion on how to approach the documentation of the school inventory;
(c) Possible approaches to determining a classification scheme for the school inventory;
(d) A discussion on how to document the seaport facilities in Basseterre; and
(e) A summary of the damage sustained by the facilities of interest (in particular, the seaports, airport and water supply system).
8. During the meeting several documents were exchanged:
(a) Mr. Elemes provided detailed maps of St. Kitts and Nevis;
(b) Mr. Elemes provided current estimates of the value of the structures and the content of educational facilities; and
(c) Dr. Stubbs provided a list to aid in the selection of photographs for the study.
(d) Dr. Stubbs provided windfield maps of Hurricane Georges coinciding with 20 September to 23 September.
9. Following the meeting at the downtown office, Mr. Elemes conducted a site visit of several of the infrastructure sites which included:
(a) The two seaports in downtown Basseterre;
(b) The hospital complex in Basseterre which sustained considerable damage;
(c) All major governmental administration buildings; and
(d) A random sampling of the educational buildings in and around Basseterre.
10. As of 23 October, the progress of Elemes Associates with regard to the Project may be summarized as follows:
(a) The approaches to obtaining the data and filling out the PML forms have been well planned; and
(b) The process of collecting the descriptive data and the replacement cost of the various infrastructure elements has been initiated.
11. The following items remain to be completed:
(a) The completion of the collection of the vulnerability and replacement cost data;
(b) The formal submission of that data; and
(c) The submission of the appropriate photographs.
12. The status of the project with regards to the other three countries is as follows:
(a) The vulnerability and cost data from St. Lucia has been received.
(b) Analyses has began on the PML study for St. Lucia.
(c) No vulnerability or cost data have been received as of 4 November 1998 from St. Vincent or Dominica.
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