CDEMA, The Regional Disaster-Management Coordinating Unit, is reported to have deployed Grenada’s Superintendent Sylvan McIntyre, (NaDMA Coordinator), to St. Vincent and the Grenadines to assist authorities there with what’s identified as the effusive eruption at the La Soufriere Volcano.
McIntyre is to spend six weeks supporting the national disaster office with the ongoing volcano crisis, under the Regional Response Mechanism (RRM).
REPORT:
Representing the CARICOM Operational Support Team associated with CDEMA, Mc Intyre, through his wealth of expertise, is hoping to discharge his duties diligently and offer all the support he can to the authorities there, grappling with the threat posed by the La Soufriere.
He says he’s humbled to be recognized in this respect, as one of the persons in the region to be responding to a sister country in need.
It must be remembered that Sylvan McIntyre, has the accolade of managing the disaster situation here at the time of Hurricane Ivan, and, based on his performance, he was sent off at the request of the US and the Caribbean to help with Hurricane Katrina disaster.
Superintendent McIntyre is said to be a pillar within the Regional Response Mechanism, having also been part of CDEMA’s response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Hurricane Irma of 2017 in the British Virgin Islands, and Hurricane Dorian of 2019 in The Bahamas.
In St. Vincent and the Grenadines, McIntyre is to review evacuation plans and relief management, assisting the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) with a Volcanic Hazard table-top exercise and examining the interface of the National Emergency Operations Centre to support the COVID-19 response and multi-hazard complexities.
Thinking about the La Soufriere Superintendent McIntyre says he’s aware of the issues.
CDEMA’s Acting Executive Director, Elizabeth Riley, sees the deployment as an example of regional and international collaboration at its finest, saying that through the Operational Support Team, they are able to source the technical expertise required to respond to, and mitigate against the many natural hazards that threaten the region.
CDEMA says it’s grateful to the Government of Grenada for facilitating the request relating to Superintendent Mc Intyre, and for his willingness to apply his experience and skillset on the ground in St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Petra Louison, Wee Fm News.
