British Virgin Islands
Disasters
- Hurricane Maria - Sep 2017
- Hurricane Irma - Sep 2017
- Tropical Storm Erika - Aug 2015
- Caribbean: Drought - 2015-2017
- Hurricane Irene - Aug 2011
- Virgin Islands: Tropical Storm Otto - Oct 2010
- Influenza A (H1N1) Pandemic - Apr 2009
- Hurricane Omar - Oct 2008
- Caribbean: Tropical Storm Jeanne - Sep 2004
- Hurricane Frances - Aug 2004
Most read reports
- Update on Hurricane Irma Recovery by Premier Smith
- Satellite Emergency Relief Warehouses Being Established
- Livelihood Protection Policy To Be Introduced In The BVI
- New disaster emergency notification App launched
- Peter-Island - British Virgin Islands (U.K.) - Hurricane - Situation as of 10/09/2017, Grading Map
Foreword
The 2017 hurricane season in the Caribbean was unprecedented. High-powered, high impact hurricanes, including Irma and Maria, left a path of destruction, infrastructure damage and casualties in more than a dozen territories in the region. Without forecasts and warnings, the tragic loss of life would have been even higher.
Satellite warehouses are being established in key locations throughout the Territory as the Department of Disaster Management (DDM) continues to enhance community resilience.
The DDM will be using containers to store emergency relief contingency stocks that will be used for immediate response operations as a first step. The engineering of the satellite warehouses will be done to ensure the containers are mounted on concrete platforms and secured to withstand high winds. These warehouses will also be properly vented and outfitted to store supplies safely.
This Study sought to review the efforts of the private sector, in the Virgin Islands and Dominica impacted by hurricanes Irma and Maria, in preparing for, responding to and recovering from these events.
The Study provides:
i. An understanding of BCP and business continuity management (BCM) practice in the private sector in BVI and Dominica.
ii. Improved information on resilience, reconstruction and capacity building initiatives of the private sector to inform practice and address gaps.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018 — Today marks the globally celebrated Geographic Information System (GIS) Day which shines a spotlight on a leading technology which is helping tackle climate change, food security, disasters and poverty in OECS Member States.
The technology which uses satellite imagery, can electronically collect, store, analyse and share spatial data from health statistics to land clearing, population movements and post-hurricane destruction to help inform better policy and decision making.
With Small Island Developing States (SIDS) bearing the brunt of economic losses from climate change, making them more resilient to extreme weather events must be a priority, said Inga Rhonda King, President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), speaking at UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday.
The first phase in the installation of seismic equipment is to be completed this week as Engineers from the Puerto Rico Strong Motion Programme at the University of Puerto Rico in Mayaguez are currently in the Territory.
Posted By: lstevens
A new disaster risk reduction micro-insurance mechanism designed to protect the income of persons most vulnerable to weather related incidents is to be introduced in the Territory.
The Livelihood Protection Policy (LPP) is a weather index-based micro-insurance introduced by the Climate Risk Adaptation & Insurance in the Caribbean (CRAIC) project. Persons targeted include fishermen, farmers, taxi operators and other small business owners whose livelihoods were severely impacted by the 2017 disasters.
SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Barbados and St. Lucia, Dominica, Martinique, Guadeloupe
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for St. Vincent and the Grenadines
TROPICAL STORM KIRK
Location: 13.2 North 62.5 West
About 110 miles… West South West of St.Lucia
About 385 miles South East of the British Virgin Islands
Maximum sustained winds…50 mph
Present movement…West at 12 mph
Minimum central pressure…1005 mb
The National Hurricane Centre continues to issue advisories on Tropical Storm Kirk.
September 27 2018
SUMMARY OF WATCHES AND WARNINGS IN EFFECT:
A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Barbados and St. Lucia, Dominica, Martinique, Guadeloupe
A Tropical Storm Watch is in effect for St. Vincent and the Grenadines
TROPICAL STORM KIRK
Location: 13.5 North 58.3 West
About 200 miles… East South East of Martinique
About 536 miles… East South East of the British Virgin Islands
The Caribbean region is poised to benefit from increased humanitarian assistance following the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and humanitarian service provider, Rescue Global (RG). The signing took place yesterday, September 19, 2018 at the CDEMA Coordinating Unit in St. Michael, Barbados.
Since Hurricane Maria made landfall, Direct Relief has delivered $70 million worth of medicines and supplies. The organization has also supported solar and infrastructure improvements to numerous local health centers.
By Lara Cooper, Tony Morain
It’s been nearly a year since Hurricane Maria wreaked havoc across the Caribbean, where brutal Category 4 winds whipped across the region, causing immense destruction and claiming thousands of lives.
UNDP mobilized US$25 million, restored buildings and boosted preparedness in hurricane-affected Caribbean
New York/Bridgetown, Barbados, 17 September 2018 – The UN Development Programme (UNDP) helped mobilize US$25 million, supported the revision and use of improved building codes and restored over 800 buildings for the most at-need people in Dominica and Antigua and Barbuda, some of the countries hit hardest by two powerful back-to-back hurricanes that devastated several Caribbean islands a year ago, according to a new report released today.
Bridgetown, Barbados September 11, 2018 – The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and humanitarian mapping charity MapAction yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to formalise their new joint working relationship. MapAction will work alongside CDEMA teams and support National Disaster Management Agencies within the Caribbean region as needed.
Residents and visitors of the British Virgin Islands (BVI), by now many of you would have been following the development of the weather systems in the Atlantic. Of these systems it would appear that Tropical Storm Isaac may create some unstable weather conditions in the BVI on Thursday of this week.
On its current path, the centre of Isaac is expected to track over 200 miles south of the BVI which means that the centre is expected to pass over or near the island of Dominica. Our thoughts are with our partners in the region as they prepare.
NWS Summary: At 500 AM AST (0900 UTC), the center of Tropical Storm Isaac was located near latitude 14.6 North, longitude 48.1 West.
NWS Summary: At 500 PM AST (2100 UTC), the center of Hurricane Isaac was located near latitude 14.4 North, longitude 45.0 West. Isaac is moving toward the west near 14 mph (22 km/h). A westward motion with a slight increase in forward speed is expected through the end of the week. On the forecast track, Isaac should move across the Lesser Antilles and into the eastern Caribbean Sea on Thursday. Maximum sustained winds are near 75 mph (120 km/h) with higher gusts. Some strengthening is expected over the next day or two.
“Preparation through education is less costly than learning through tragedy.”
– Max Mayfield, former Director of the National Hurricane Center
By Frank Schott, Managing Director of New Program Development
Almost one year ago today, Hurricane Irma smashed into the leeward Caribbean Islands of Barbuda, Saint Martin, Anguilla, and the Virgin Islands. In the days following the hurricane, NetHope and its members and partners responded to restore communications capabilities in support of recovery efforts.
Since Hurricane Irma made landfall, Direct Relief has delivered nearly $40 million in medical aid to 63 partner healthcare facilities located throughout the Caribbean and southeastern U.S.
By Susan Fowler
Hurricane Irma, one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, ripped through the Caribbean with Category 5 strength.
Sustained winds as high as 185 mph caused catastrophic damage to numerous island nations as the storm continued toward the U.S. mainland.
In September 2017, Primrose Thomas was at her home on Barbuda, when disaster struck: two Category 5 hurricanes, Irma and Maria, swept over the islands of the eastern Caribbean, wreaking chaos and destruction.
“The first time I came back, I didn’t know where to go. I couldn’t recognize anywhere. I had to ask for directions to my own house.”
Thousands of people in the region found themselves in the same situation as Primrose, and the UN played a major role in helping affected communities get back on their feet.
by Sebastien Malo | @SebastienMalo | Thomson Reuters Foundation
Tuesday, 31 July 2018 12:00 GMT
Burdened by costly fuel imports and a power grid destroyed by Hurricane Irma, the island territory is aiming to produce more electricity from renewables
ROAD TOWN, July 31 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Nearly a year after Hurricane Irma knocked out power across the British Virgin Islands, electricity boss Leroy Abraham will be among the last residents to have their homes reconnected.
