Emergency systems ready for hurricane season - McKenzie

 

The government is assuring that emergency systems, including housing, are being prepared to withstand the intensity of weather events during the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season. 

 

Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie says the government has noted the lessons from the destruction caused by Hurricane Beryl in July 2024, and intends to apply them this hurricane season. 

 

He is cautioning the public to be on guard over the next six months.

 

"I want to use the opportunity this morning, as I did last Wednesday in Parliament, to urge Jamaicans not to turn their backs on the various advices that will come. We saw the effects of Beryl last year, and it was because we were proactive last year we were able to come back in a way that a lot of people didn't expect us to. It was because of that collective response from all of us as Jamaicans. 

 

"So as we prepare for this hurricane season, over some 900 shelters have been inspected and [are] ready. The Ministry of Labour has enough supplies, and following this portion of the meeting, we will meet in the business session of the Council to go into details," said Mr. McKenzie.

 

The minister added that the country's main disaster response agency, the the Office of Disaster Preparedness on Emergency Management (ODPEM), is also "fully equipped financially and otherwise" for the hurricane season. 

 

The local government minister was speaking at Wednesday morning's meeting of the National Disaster Risk Management Council.