Grenada: After the storm

What happens next when you wake up with your house in shambles around you? You stand under the blue sky in the golden sunshine, and say, “Thank God I’m alive”. Such was the response of the people of Grenada, who are picking up the pieces and starting to repair the damage done by Hurricane Ivan.

“Bigger and better,” says Beverly Renwick, manager of the real estate firm Alleyne Aguilar & Altman. She lost her house to one of the “more than 50 tornadoes” that struck in the wake of the hurricane. Most structures older than twenty years had no chance. It sent her back home to her parents, where she has provided necessary support. “Stress has been hardest on children and the elderly,” she says. “In a single week in the period after Ivan, five of Daddy’s friends died.”

Nevertheless, Renwick is optimistic that Grenada has the chance to rebuild itself into a better place. In her field, real estate, the emphasis has shifted to property management — maintenance and reconstruction. A few owners may want to sell “as is”, but most, she says, are holding on to their property. The immediate problem is that labour for construction is now stretched to the limit.

But not everyone is so optimistic. The severity of Ivan’s physical, social, and political impact has been documented by a multi-disciplinary team from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), whose report has been published on the website of the government of Grenada, www.gov.gd. Field work conducted from 19 to 24 September documents a disaster of almost unimaginable proportions. It’s estimated that full recovery will take ten or 15 years.

The state of Grenada, which includes the islands of Carriacou and Petit Martinique to the north, has a population of just over 102,000, living in an area of 344 square kilometres. Ninety per cent of the buildings on the island were damaged by Ivan; over 10,000 are beyond repair. Over 18,000 people rendered homeless had to seek refuge in ad hoc shelters, since many official shelters were destroyed. Distribution systems for electricity were so severely damaged they took months to restore, with the help of dedicated crews from other islands. Reservoirs were choked and water lines destroyed.

The OECS report describes some of the worst hit sites. The village of Apres Toute was removed from its hillside, with only a pile of wood and zinc sheets to indicate its previous location. The villages of Darbeau, Vendome, and Grand Anse were swept away. Soubise, on the sea, took the brunt of the winds and sea surges. “Hurricane-force winds of 115 miles per hour tore off roofs belonging to persons in low and high income houses, without distinction.”

On the afternoon of Monday 6 September, 2004, as Ivan approached the Windward Islands, Grenada was placed under hurricane watch. If the storm stayed on its path, it was predicted that it would hit Grenada. At 1 p.m. on Tuesday 7 September, the National Hurricane Centre in Miami was recording sustained winds of 120 miles per hour, rising to a maximum of 145 miles per hour for a brief period just after 4 p.m. Overnight, the wind speeds dropped to between 40 and 60 miles per hour, but a number of tornadoes arrived in the wake of the storm. Fortunately, relatively little rain fell, which was a factor in reducing damage due to flooding and landslides.

Grenada’s natural environment was devastated. What was green before was now brown, appearing “burnt.” The OECS report estimates that 91 percent of the island’s forests were stripped bare, and 72 watersheds damaged. The long-term impact on wildlife remains to be seen.

The nutmeg industry, accounting for the livelihood of over 30,000 people, and supplying one third of the world’s nutmeg, was decimated. Of half a million nutmeg trees, producing 12 million pounds of nutmeg annually, just 48,000 trees were left standing. Nutmeg accounts for about half of Grenada’s export earnings. The immediate task of the Grenada Co-operative Nutmeg Association (GCNA) was to remove fallen tree stock, clear lands, and prepare for replanting. And Ivan’s effect on 8,000 acres of cocoa was to put 7,500 active farmers out of a means to earn an income until the estates recover. The effects on Grenada’s agriculture will be fully felt in 2005, without a cocoa or nutmeg crop, and no banana crop until the last quarter of the year.

Infrastructure at the port and airport were also damaged. Government and commercial buildings were all affected. The residences of the prime minister and governor-general even lost their roofs. “The passage of Ivan, terrible as it has been, should be viewed as an opportunity . . . to put systems in place to assist in reducing overall impacts of such an event when they do occur,” advises the OECS report. One of the earliest decisions was to write and enforce a new building code.

But if Hurricane Ivan was a disaster, especially to those living on the margins of subsistence, it was also the catalyst for an outpouring of care and “gayap” (co-operative work) from the Caribbean community. Trinidad and Tobago, 90 miles to the south, sent a contingent of 250 soldiers to assist with cleaning up, repairs, and security, as well as food, water, electricity generators, doctors, engineers, and hundreds of tons of construction material. The Trinidad and Tobago government, effective 1 July, 2004, established a grant facility of up to US$25 million per month, to be used for poverty eradication in Caricom nations. Grenada will be able to draw down on these funds. This is in addition to donations from ordinary citizens, companies, and groups who have raised funds via telethons and concerts.

Other Caribbean states offered to house prisoners, take children into secondary schools, pay public servants’ salaries for certain periods, or send in personnel. The Venezuelan government sent food, medicine, and construction material, as well as a contingent of soldiers to help repair schools and prisons. All over the Caribbean, and in the West Indian communities in North America and Europe, funds for Grenada have been raised and pledged.

Much more is still needed. Long-term food security is a pressing problem for a country that has lost, for the time being, a large portion of its natural resources. Unemployment has become a crisis; the current rate is over 90 per cent. Villages that were completely destroyed need to be rebuilt with appropriate town planning, to ensure sound basic structures. While the agricultural sector recovers, workers need to be retrained for jobs in construction, light manufacturing, and tourism.

In early November, Prime Minister Keith Mitchell launched a bulletin to let Grenadians know the government was prepared to provide tools and equipment to farmers and fishermen, funding for tourism projects, low cost housing systems, counselling for the traumatised, and food for the needy. And teams of engineers, agriculturists, and economists are at work devising projects to restore housing, industry, and agri-business.

Initial assessments right after the hurricane anticipated that most of Grenada’s productive sectors would be disabled for at least a year. The outlook for tourism was grim. Most hotels expected to lose the winter season. But individuals and companies have been working feverishly to restart their businesses, and in some instances recovery has been far quicker than expected.

Carol Patrice of the Grenada Hotel and Tourism Association reports that many hotels have already re-opened for business. Don’t bypass Grenada, she says. “Travel and tourism are as important as agriculture, fishing, and manufacturing, because they bring in revenue, and provide jobs to numerous Grenadians.” Visitors can check the websites www.grenadahotelsinfo.com and www.grenadagrenadines.com for up-to-date information on hotels and restaurants open for business, and to make bookings.

And, though most of the island’s marinas were damaged by the storm, rapid repair work means that Grenada will be ready for business during the 2005 cruising season. At Spice Island Marine Services, located on the True Blue side of Prickly Bay, cranes from Trinidad had to be used to pull out the boats that sank to the bottom. But by January 2005, the marina was looking more or less the way it did before Ivan. “Our restaurant, The Big Fish, was open right through, even without a roof,” says manager Justin Evans.

Grenada Marina has already managed to finish repairs. Martin’s Marina in Mt Hartman Bay did not sustain much damage, but took the opportunity to start a full refurbishment, which was completed in December. The Grenada Yacht Club suffered extensive damage, but will be ready for 2005’s early races; as is the True Blue Hotel & Marina. And plans for a major new marina at Prickly Bay are still on stream.

At 12 degrees north, towards the southern limit of the hurricane belt, Grenada is positioned to provide outhaul or put-in facilities in the hurricane season. One hurricane in 50 years — the island was last struck by Hurricane Janet in 1955 — is a pretty low ratio. The current cruising season will bring many boats to the south Caribbean. “Many will come to Grenada, even if only for the curiosity factor.” Evans said. “They will cruise down and check us out, and they will also come on the way to Trinidad.”

Some Grenadians fear that, with the island still partially in shambles, visitors who do come this year may be turned off. The situation is precarious, and the plight of a people battered but not broken by circumstance begs for understanding and compassion.

One of Grenada’s major medium-term goals is to be able to host its scheduled matches in the 2007 Cricket World Cup. The new national stadium was hard hit, but the government is determined to rebuild it, along with whatever infrastructure is required to accommodate players and fans in two years’ time.

Most Grenadians are determined to turn a positive face to the world. With the effort of all her citizens, and the help of all her friends in the Caribbean and elsewhere, Grenada will rise again.