Prime Minister Andrew Holness’s announcement on Tuesday that the Government has established a Disaster Risk Management Committee came at a most appropriate moment — the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Ivan’s onslaught on Jamaica and two days before the 36th anniversary of Hurricane Gilbert’s devastation.

According to Mr Holness, the committee, headed by Major General Antony Anderson, has been mandated to strengthen Jamaica’s preparedness for disasters and ensure that the island is “ready to meet future crises head on”.

The creation of this committee is indeed welcome and we hope that it will not only meet its mandate but enhance the island’s response and recovery systems from natural disasters.

Many Jamaicans still remember the day when Category 4 Hurricane Ivan struck the island, leaving a trail of destruction in some areas and depriving thousands of people of shelter, electricity and running water for weeks.

After the storm, the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) told us that 369,685 people were directly affected, many of whom were in the direct path of the hurricane in Clarendon, St Elizabeth, Westmoreland, Kingston and St Andrew, and Manchester.

Seventeen people lost their lives as a direct result of the hurricane and, according to ECLAC, Ivan left the country with losses of $35.9 billion.

In the case of Hurricane Gilbert, easily one of the most destructive events in our nation’s history, 56 lives were lost and damage was put at roughly US$8 million.

Gilbert devastated all sectors of the society and the economy, especially rural farming communities, with damage to agriculture accounting for more than 40 per cent of the total loss.

Ninety-five per cent of all health facilities suffered damage, and it was estimated that more than 800,000 individuals sought shelter. A one-month state of public emergency was declared for St Thomas, St Catherine, and Kingston and St Andrew, as electricity was out for months.

The scale of the destruction was captured in a statement by then Prime Minister Edward Seaga who, after flying over the country to survey the damage, likened the situation to the utter demolition of the Japanese city of Hiroshima following the dropping of an atomic bomb by the Americans in 1945 as World War II approached its end.

As we have pointed out before, in this region we do not have the luxury of speculating whether hurricanes will hit us. It’s simply a matter of when. That is why we often use this space to reiterate the importance of preparation, especially when one considers that since 1950 more than 240 hurricanes have hit the region, resulting in massive damage and widespread devastation.

The most recent reminder of that was Hurricane Beryl which wreaked havoc in a number of islands this July.

Undoubtedly, the damage from these disasters is made more acute by the nature and topography of our small islands, most of which are either below sea level or only a few feet above sea level.

Thankfully, local and regional disaster management agencies have, over the years, been doing a good job of making adequate preparations for natural disasters. However, we reiterate that every citizen has a duty to be prepared, as that can mean the difference between life and death.