JERRY DAVID, senior disaster management co-ordinator at the Ministry of Rural Development and Local Government, says simple things can be done to improve Trinidad and Tobago’s chances if a hurricane were to hit the country.

He said in Trinidad and Tobago, the main problem was flooding because of the topography of the country, particularly the Caroni plains, south and north Oropouche river basins. He said the flood plains were expected to flood but settlements were built there, which was the problem.

“We have been saying there are no natural disasters. There are natural hazards. How we relate to the hazards determines if it becomes a disaster. If a tree falls in the forest, it isn’t a disaster because nobody lives there. If it falls in an urban community, falls on a home and kills the people inside, that is a disaster.”