[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 36 (Tuesday, March 28, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E428-E429]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             PREPARE NOW DON'T WAIT FOR A HURRICANE STRIKE

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Tuesday, March 28, 2006

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to call upon the United States 
Government to assist the islands of the Caribbean with preparation for 
the impending 2006 hurricane season and to enter in the Record an 
editorial from the New York CaribNews entitled ``Prepare Now Don't Wait 
for a Hurricane Strike'' which addresses the need to take timely action 
now before a natural disaster occurs.
  The impact and wreckage still linger in Grenada from 2004 and 2005. 
In the aftermath of Hurricanes Ivan and Emily we realized that decades 
of progress was wiped away and insurmountable damage was done to 90 per 
cent of the country's housing stock and watersheds. Similar devastation 
exists throughout the islands of the Caribbean who received direct 
force of the 2004 and 2005 hurricanes. It is crucial that steps be 
taken to prepare for these tragedies long before they occur. We must 
have programs in place to respond immediately and not wait until the 
disaster strikes.

With 2006 Hurricane Season Around The Corner, A Loud Caribbean Appeal: 
             Prepare Now Don't Wait for a Hurricane Strike

       March 21, 2006.--Among Caribbean leaders, Dr. Keith 
     Mitchell, Grenada's Prime Minister, is undoubtedly the best 
     person, not only to talk about the importance of preparing a 
     country's response system before a natural disaster occurs. 
     He is also well qualified to be the region's spokesman on 
     rebuilding a nation after devastation caused by a hurricane.

[[Page E429]]

       That's because of the wreckage Hurricanes Ivan and Emily 
     left behind in 2004 and last year in Grenada. In a matter of 
     hours Ivan wiped out decades of progress in the Eastern 
     Caribbean state, destroyed the productive base of the 
     economy, took at least a dozen lives and damaged 90 per cent 
     of the country's housing stock, forested areas, watershed and 
     mangroves. In less than a year Emily came along and 
     unfortunately piled on damage on top of damage and put a halt 
     to much of the rebuilding effort after Ivan.
       That put Dr. Mitchell and his people in the unenviable 
     position of starting from scratch to rebuild a beautiful 
     country.
       Small wonder, then, that when the United Nations was about 
     to launch its international Central Emergency Response Fund 
     last week in New York, the Grenada leader was invited to join 
     UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, at the head table to 
     speak to delegates from around the world about the value 
     of being well prepared in case of a natural disaster and 
     the need for an effective response by the international 
     community to appeals for help.
       A key task was to appeal for financial and technical 
     assistance for victims of natural disasters.
       Speaking on behalf of Caricom and addressing the high level 
     meeting as a ``survivor of an unprecedented catastrophe'' the 
     Prime Minister presented a sensible case for small states. 
     ``The Caribbean is among the regions in the world most 
     vulnerable to natural disasters,'' he said. ``The survival of 
     our economies is dependent on the frequency and magnitude of 
     these events.''
       Afterwards, he told us at Carib News that he was worried 
     and nervous about the upcoming hurricane season, which begins 
     in June. His concern for the Caribbean region as a whole, not 
     simply Grenada, wasn't misplaced.
       After all, Ivan left a trail of devastation in Jamaica, 
     Haiti, St. Vincent and other islands. The loss of life in 
     Haiti was mind-boggling and tragic. Other hurricanes also 
     affected the Bahamas and the U.S. Last year, Katrina took its 
     lethal high winds and heavy rains to the Gulf Coast of the 
     United States, especially New Orleans and the pitiful sight 
     of tens of thousands of homeless persons, at least 1,000 
     killed and the Big Easy brought to its knees wouldn't be 
     erased from the memory banks of Americans for decades to 
     come. Add the inept response of the Federal Emergency 
     Management Agency, FEMA, and the Bush White House to the 
     nightmare and it would become clear why rich and poor 
     countries alike should be petrified about the 2006 hurricane 
     season.
       But hurricanes aren't the only cause for despair. Monstrous 
     floods hit Guyana in late 2004 from which it hasn't fully 
     recovered. Some estimates by the Economic Commission for 
     Latin America and the Caribbean, ECLAC, put the damage in 
     Guyana to approximately 60 percent of its gross domestic 
     product. The floods affected almost two-thirds of the 800,000 
     plus persons who live there.
       Clearly, nations and territories in the region should have 
     learned some important lessons from these tragedies. The 
     first was that they should be prepared for the tragedy long 
     before it occurs. Next, they must have programs in place to 
     respond immediately after the all clear has been given. That 
     was why it was so distressing to hear both Dr. Mitchell and 
     Jeremy Collymore, Coordinator of the Caribbean Emergency 
     Response Agency, CEDERA, express regret that some countries 
     seem to be waiting until the next calamity strikes in order 
     to wake up. That would add to the suffering.
       In his speech to the diplomats and other representatives in 
     New York, Dr. Mitchell expressed the Caribbean's 
     disappointment at the ``poor response'' to the region's 
     appeals for assistance in the wake of the natural disasters.
       ``In both cases only a small percentage of the pledges were 
     fulfilled,'' he said. That's an international scandal, a 
     crying shame. Here were countries and institutions making 
     pledges, lifting people's hopes but failing to live up to 
     their word in times of need and suffering.

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