Hurricane season has financial fears in the Caribbean

For some bearded people, thunderstorms always trigger night flashbacks in September 2017 when they lost everything they had against the devastating winds of Hurricane Irma.

Eight years later, while memories can be close, home insurance for many bearded people and other islands of the Caribbean hurricanes belt is more expensive than ever.

According to industry figures.

Experts blaming a perfect storm of growing risks – because the region sees the worsening and faster intensification of cyclones – but tiny populations of people to pay the police, equivalent to bad yields for insurance companies.

The bearded house of Dwight Benjamin was one of the rare remaining relatively intact by Irma. After the storm, he invested in an extension of a room surmounted by a concrete roof which will serve as a refuge for his family should strike the shot again.

“I think the house should be quite good, but it’s my additional protection,” he said.

With the peak hurricanes season that is in full swing, Dwight is part of many Caribbean, impatiently supervising meteorological platforms for activity in the Atlantic. If a system goes to him, he will do what he did for Irma – hope and pray.

“I have never had insurance; most bearded people don’t really think it’s worth it. It’s just an additional expense to the meager resources we have,” he explains.

“In addition, we believe in what we have built and that it should be able to resist the weather.”

Like Dwight, many Caribbean build houses “of their pocket”, rather than opting for mortgages that can have high interest rates in this part of the world.

And the majority of houses on the islands affected by hurricanes are not insured. In Jamaica, only 20% would have a coverage, and barely half of the barbados.

These are not only storms threatening the region, but also earthquakes and volcanoes, underlines Peter Levy, boss of the Jamaican insurance company BCIC.

Due to these threats of natural disaster, which Mr. Levy calls the Caribbean “single market”, the cost of home insurance will always be high.

An anti -mood insurance company, ANJO, generally invoices bonuses between 1.3% and 1.7% of the value of a house. While in the United Kingdom, for example, it can be less than 0.2%.

The Atlantic Hurricane season takes place from June 1 to November 30, the greatest activity occurring between mid-August and mid-October. The northern Caribbean nations, such as Antigua and Barbuda, the Bahamas, the British Virgin Islands and the Dominican Republic, are among the most risky at a direct blow.

The peak months can be tortuous people with IRMA trauma, explains Mohammid Walbrook, another Barbudan resident. “Whenever there is an announcement of a storm that happens to us, it brings bad memories. For some, even thunder and lightning are a trigger,” he said.

In 2017, Mohammid took refuge in a bathroom with his mother, father, sister and nephews when the category five winds of Irma torn the roof of her parents’ house.

Its own two -room uninsured properties have also been seriously damaged. He was one of the many bearded people to receive a new house thanks to the help of international donors.

While some Caribbean countries – like the Turks and Caicos of the British territory, also beaten by Irma – have emergency cash reserves that can help restore after the storm, others do not have this luxury.

For the deeply indebted antigua and bearded nation, agencies such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) are a lifeline following a natural disaster.

The Prime Minister of the country, Gaston Browne, estimated the cost of reconstruction of Barbuda after Irma, where 90% of the buildings were damaged, exceeded $ 200 million (148 million pounds sterling). The aid came from China, the European Union and Venezuela, among others.

In 2017, the UNDP experienced a boost of 25 million dollars for Barbuda and the island country of Dominique, which was ravaged by Hurricane Maria the same month.

The money restored more than 800 buildings destroyed through the two islands. But the intervention of the body was also crucial in other respects.

With destroyed livelihoods, the UNDP cash program hired hundreds of local residents who suddenly found themselves unemployed.

They helped everything from the elimination of debris to the reconstruction of houses and infrastructure, including the hospital and the barbuda post office, said Luis Gamarra from UNDP to the BBC.

“The injection of economic resources in affected families helps reactivate the local economy,” he said.

Nearly 1,000 entrepreneurs have also been trained in more resilient techniques to “strengthen better”, to protect structures against future disasters.

“The climate changes and exerts more pressure on governments and communities. Storms become more frequent, more intense and also occur earlier in the year,” continues Mr. Gamarra.

He thinks that the expansion of partnerships with the private sector and with other countries in the region could help to mitigate the impacts.

One of these mechanisms is the risk installation risk of the Caribbean disaster, of which 19 Caribbean governments are members. Installed after Hurricane Ivan in 2004, the first risk renovation company allows governments of members to buy coverage in the event of low -cost disaster.

Last year, he made record payments despite $ 85 million in the Hurricane Islands Beryl.

In Antigua and Barbuda, Hurricane Preparation is a company all year round, explains Sherrod James, director of the country’s catastrophe office.

The evaluations of buildings to be used as storm shelters, as well as the training of volunteers to manage them, begins months before the start of the season, he said.

“We also meet the private sector, helping them to set up policies and preparations, by examining the safety and resilience of their buildings. We make sure that our critical partners, such as ports, are prepared.

“And we do a lot of proactive work to approach the foreign points in the navigable waterways which can exacerbate the floods,” adds Mr. James. “These days, storms can go from category 1 to five in a day. The new standard has thrown the old regiment of what must be done; we must be much more proactive.”

For many bearded people, this time of year will always be apprehensive. Dwight was one of the dozens who recently attended a souvenir service of Hurricane Irma at the Pentecostal Church on the island.

“It was very touching and brought back a lot of memories,” he said. “This time of year, we keep an eye on the weather and our fingers have crossed. But we are resilient people and we know how to survive.”