5 Grenada 2004 Photo by Frankie Michael • Continued from previous page is a long one and it is impractical to reproduce it here. I was among the first of the Disaster Managers dispatched to Grenada by CDEMA. I arrived two days after the hurricane struck. I was scheduled to arrive the day before, but that emergency flight was already full of military officials. I was flown into Grenada by a young Grenadian pilot who volunteered to make the flight despite all the limitations at the airport for aircraft after the hurricane. There were two other persons already in Grenada from CDEMA, the then Deputy Director of CDEMA Ms. Audrey Mullings and the late Horatio Tuitt, Director of Emergency Operations in Montserrat. I was an experienced Disaster Manager but what I saw in those first few weeks in Grenada shook me to my emotional core. The hurricane brought immense suffering, privation and uncertainty to all of Grenada. When I saw the conditions under which some people had taken refuge, the scenarios almost brought me to tears. The seven Ds of Disaster were very evident. • Death • Damage • Destruction • Disruption • Delay • Disorder • Despair However, although there were concerns about national security and safety because the prison was damaged and some prisoners had escaped, or that there had been pockets of looting, the CDEMA team insisted that we should stay there. In our own words, we would be part of the solution. We could not exacerbate the problem by leaving because of concerns over personal safety. We worked with the Cabinet of Grenada, the volunteers at the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), the Police, regional military detachments, international and local NGOs to bring order to the chaos that Hurricane Ivan had created. We introduced structures, systems, strategies, we redefined roles, we delivered briefings and reports, conducted regular site inspections, created innovative methodologies and engaged with key local officials to deliver much needed results. We helped to build • Continues on next page
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