Jamaica faces the hardest part of the hurricane: recovery

To understand disaster recovery in the Caribbean, it is helpful to look to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti or the 2017 Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico. The history of colonialism, imperialism and exploitation is echoed throughout the recovery process in these cases. For example, Haiti was required to pay France for its freedom from slavery. It is estimated that this push prevented $20 billion in economic growth. In Puerto Rico, the island's status as a US territory and a Caribbean island was confusing to 50% of Americans who were not aware that the island was part of the United States.

However, these vibrant communities also offered their own solutions and versions of resilience. Jamaica was at the forefront of countries keen to ensure its ability to recover from disasters. It was the first country to have all its local government departments sign up to the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) initiative, a United Nations initiative that seeks to build disaster resilience and create networks of professionals in this field. She also worked to secure her financial future by investing in disaster bonds; Bonds that are paid for by verified central pressure readings on hurricanes and whose funds can be used to respond to and recover from that hurricane. These measures provide hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for disaster recovery. However, if initial assessments prove correct, Jamaica expects billions of dollars in losses.

There has been a consensus among disaster researchers over decades that real progress in disaster mitigation and recovery can be achieved by addressing social vulnerabilities. In general, our formula for a disaster is that hazard (hurricane, flood, or earthquake for example) plus vulnerability equals disaster.

Weaknesses can be divided into two basic types: physical and social. Physical vulnerabilities could be things like lowlands, exposed hills, or dry forests where wildfires are likely to occur. Social vulnerabilities consist of things like income inequality, gender discrimination, and racial segregation.

To understand what this means in practical terms, consider the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the 3.11 triple disaster that struck Japan in 2011. The Haiti earthquake was a powerful 7 on the Richter scale. The earthquake, with a magnitude of 3.11, had a magnitude of 9.0 on the Richter scale. Keep in mind that the Richter scale is non-linear, which means that 9.0 is much stronger than 7.0.

Despite this difference in relative strength, about 222,000 people died in the Haiti earthquake, while nearly 20,000 people died during the 3.11 earthquake. Most of these deaths were not due to the earthquake, but rather due to the resulting tsunami.

What could explain a less powerful earthquake resulting in a higher number of deaths? Here comes the role of social weakness. Poverty, inequality, building standards, access to materials, civil society capacity, and legacies of colonialism can lead to more deaths. This is not to say that the physical environment does not play a role, but rather that the terrain that makes a fundamental difference is a social and economic one.

The international community has been working to unravel the complexities of disasters in a formal way for the past 30 years. Beginning in the mid-1990s, under the auspices of the United Nations, countries worked to create a widely accepted framework for disaster response.

The current version of this framework is the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, which incorporates this understanding of social vulnerabilities and calls on its signatories – of which Jamaica is one – to take a build back better approach to post-disaster reconstruction.

The “Build Back Better” initiative calls not only for a return to the pre-disaster status quo, but also for the mitigation of social vulnerabilities through the recovery process. Building back better is not a perfect concept. It has its critics, including me. However, it is a step forward in understanding that simply rebuilding does not improve a community's resilience to further disasters.

Rebuilding after disaster provides an opportunity to reconsider the physical and social arrangements of a community. As Jamaica shifts from emergency response to recovery, change must come from the bottom up, be community-based and community-driven.

What Are The Main Benefits Of Comparing Car Insurance Quotes Online

LOS ANGELES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / June 24, 2020, / Compare-autoinsurance.Org has launched a new blog post that presents the main benefits of comparing multiple car insurance quotes. For more info and free online quotes, please visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/the-advantages-of-comparing-prices-with-car-insurance-quotes-online/ The modern society has numerous technological advantages. One important advantage is the speed at which information is sent and received. With the help of the internet, the shopping habits of many persons have drastically changed. The car insurance industry hasn't remained untouched by these changes. On the internet, drivers can compare insurance prices and find out which sellers have the best offers. View photos The advantages of comparing online car insurance quotes are the following: Online quotes can be obtained from anywhere and at any time. Unlike physical insurance agencies, websites don't have a specific schedule and they are available at any time. Drivers that have busy working schedules, can compare quotes from anywhere and at any time, even at midnight. Multiple choices. Almost all insurance providers, no matter if they are well-known brands or just local insurers, have an online presence. Online quotes will allow policyholders the chance to discover multiple insurance companies and check their prices. Drivers are no longer required to get quotes from just a few known insurance companies. Also, local and regional insurers can provide lower insurance rates for the same services. Accurate insurance estimates. Online quotes can only be accurate if the customers provide accurate and real info about their car models and driving history. Lying about past driving incidents can make the price estimates to be lower, but when dealing with an insurance company lying to them is useless. Usually, insurance companies will do research about a potential customer before granting him coverage. Online quotes can be sorted easily. Although drivers are recommended to not choose a policy just based on its price, drivers can easily sort quotes by insurance price. Using brokerage websites will allow drivers to get quotes from multiple insurers, thus making the comparison faster and easier. For additional info, money-saving tips, and free car insurance quotes, visit https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ Compare-autoinsurance.Org is an online provider of life, home, health, and auto insurance quotes. This website is unique because it does not simply stick to one kind of insurance provider, but brings the clients the best deals from many different online insurance carriers. In this way, clients have access to offers from multiple carriers all in one place: this website. On this site, customers have access to quotes for insurance plans from various agencies, such as local or nationwide agencies, brand names insurance companies, etc. "Online quotes can easily help drivers obtain better car insurance deals. All they have to do is to complete an online form with accurate and real info, then compare prices", said Russell Rabichev, Marketing Director of Internet Marketing Company. CONTACT: Company Name: Internet Marketing CompanyPerson for contact Name: Gurgu CPhone Number: (818) 359-3898Email: [email protected]: https://compare-autoinsurance.Org/ SOURCE: Compare-autoinsurance.Org View source version on accesswire.Com:https://www.Accesswire.Com/595055/What-Are-The-Main-Benefits-Of-Comparing-Car-Insurance-Quotes-Online View photos