HURRICANE SHELTERS MUST BE RESILIENT TO WITHSTAND HURRICANES, SAYS CHAIR OF HOUSING AND SHELTER SUB-COMMITTEE

Basseterre, St. Kitts, July 15, 2021 (SKNIS): Chair of the Housing and Shelter subcommittee of the National Emergency Operations Center, Valentine Lindsay, said that hurricane shelters must be resilient to withstand hurricanes while outlining some of the physical conditions that they should be in.  

 In his appearance on the popular radio and television show ‘Working for You’ on July 14, Mr. Lindsay said, “There is always a historical list that you would start working from but from time to time you would have new facilities coming on stream and so those facilities can also be examined.”

“For instance, the additional buildings that were added to this year’s list would have been the community centre in Lodge and we also had the Explorers Club Headquarters in MolPhil,” said Mr. Lindsay.

 “We have to look at whether the integrity of the facilities are sound and so when we started examining the buildings we start with the roof, we check for leaks we check the rafters we check whether the shingles are adequate or if they need changing then we come down and we look at the windows,” he said.  

When inspecting the facilities, Mr. Lindsay said they examine to see whether the integrity of the facilities is sound. He said they start with the roof to see whether there is any leakage and inspect whether there is any compromise in the galvanize or shingles.

… “then we come down and we look at the windows, whether you have proper ventilation because in one community centre all the windows are sealed and, in a setting, where we have a disaster, that is not adequate and so we would have recommended for that centre that we would have to get new windows in order for that centre to remain on the list,” he said.  

Mr. Lindsay also said that “I know that there is a programme presently to outfit the centres with emergency doors so you have some of the centres that now have a more solid door and one that you can just push a lever and the door opens quite easily in the event that persons are inside, and you have any issues where you actually need to come out in a rush.”

He also mentioned the ideal layout of the bathrooms and showers being attached to the hurricane shelters.

“We do not want a setting where it is used for a hurricane shelter and the bathroom is not attached to the building… If the situation is probably a volcano issue or so, persons can just walk and go out to the bathroom but in a hurricane setting, it is not appropriate for the showers not to be attached to the community centre,” Mr. Lindsay said.
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