International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR)


Estrategia Internacional para la Reducción de Desastres América Latina y el Caribe

Perfiles de países

	Introducción


	Información de países y territorios

Antigua and Barbuda

The islands of Antigua and Barbuda are at risk from hurricanes, earthquakes, flash floods and periods of drought.

Recent hurricanes which have affected the island were Hugo in 1989, Luis and Marilyn in 1995, Georges in 1998 and Jose and Lenny in 1999. Hugo did not impact the islands directly but nevertheless left significant damage. Hurricane Luis was far more destructive and damaged 46 out of 71 schools. Georges left two people dead and damaged approximately 1700 homes, leaving more than 3000 people homeless. José once again brought destruction to the islands, killing one person and leaving 500 people homeless.

The most recent earthquake to hit Antigua was in 1974. No major floods have yet occurred on the islands, yet interference with natural water courses has caused flash floods. Periods of drought occur regularly, the most serious being those of 1995 and 1983-1984 during which the country's agricultural sector encountered great losses and water had to be imported from Dominica. There are no known volcanoes on the islands, yet they lie in close proximity to Guadeloupe, Dominica and Montserrat. Ash from Montserrat's active Soufriere Hill Volcano has reached the islands on at least one occasion.

The national body for multi-sector coordination in disaster risk reduction as well as coordination of disaster response preparedness is the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS). Its main organs are the Office of the Director and the Preparedness and Response Advisory Committee. A National Disaster Management Act was passed into law in September 2002. A policy on Comprehensive Disaster Management (CDM) is being drafted. Building codes which take seismic risk into account are in place, and so are several contingency plans (including the national plan, oil spill plan, Mass Casualty Management Plan and sector and district disaster committee emergency plans). Furthermore, a centralised warehouse system has been set up with a new warehouse based at NODS, donated by US SOUTHCOM.

Hazard mapping has been done for wind, waves, storm surges, floods, droughts and landslides. These maps are used by several government institutions and insurance companies and are available to the general public. Hazard assessments have been done for all government owned public facilities. Early warning systems exist through the national meteorological office and there are flood risk monitoring programs for areas at risk. A defined list of flood prone areas is available at the NODS.

Public awareness on disaster reduction is raised through the National Office of Disaster Services, which produces and distributes information materials, delivers lectures and presentations and coordinates training programs free of charge. In kindergarten, primary and secondary school, educational programs on disaster risk reduction are in use. Programs for tertiary education are being developed through the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA) mechanism.

A major disaster mitigation program was set up in response to hurricane Georges in 2000/2001. The 'Hurricane Georges Reconstruction and Recovery in the Eastern Caribbean' program was funded by USAID and in part implemented by the OAS Unit for Sustainable Development and Environment. Under the 'Post Georges Disaster Mitigation' program, national hazard mitigation policies and plans were developed, building practices were strengthened, national emergency shelters policies and programmes were revised, and public information programs on hazard mitigation were drawn up. A major hazard mapping initiative as part of this program contributed greatly to the current availability of hazard maps of the islands.