CARICOM Institution CDEMA leads Region’s response in Dominica

The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) today mounted an assessment mission to Dominica, following the devastating passage of Tropical Storm Erika over the island, Thursday.

CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has also been in touch with Dominica’s Prime Minister Hon. Roosevelt Skerrit and CEDEMA’s Executive Director Mr. Ronald Jackson and today issued a message of sympathy on behalf of the Caribbean Community to the Government and People of Dominica in which he also pledged CARICOM’s full support to the recovery process.

CDEMA, the CARICOM agency coordinating the Region’s response,  is working with National Disaster Coordinators and other officials in Dominica to conduct full damage and needs assessments, and assist with search and rescue and medical transfers.

The CDEMA’s response team includes the CARICOM Operational Support Team (COST), CARICOM Disaster and Assessment Coordination Team (CDAC), and the CARICOM Disaster Response Unit (CDRU) through the Regional Security System (RSS) Regional Search and Rescue Team and medical resources through PAHO.

With the main Douglas-Charles airport still unusable after Thursday’s flood, the Government of Trinidad and Tobago provided a helicopter to transport the team and to conduct the reconnaissance. Other offers of assistance have come from other Member States, including Antigua and Barbuda and Barbados which have put technical teams on stand-by to go into Dominica if needed.

Tropical Storm Erika’s torrential rainfall triggered widespread flooding which, according to the latest count on Thursday, left four confirmed dead and more than thirty missing.  There was extensive damage to the infrastructure, with bridges and large sections of roads washed away.