SAINT LUCIA FLOODS AFTER FOUR DAYS OF RAIN

DOES THIS SUCCEPTIBILITY TO FLOODING BODE BADLY FOR THE 2011

HURRICANE SEASON?

COMPILED BY DAWN FRENCH, SLUNEMO AND GADR

MAY 10, 2011

Walter Hays, Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction, University of

North Carolina, USA

SAINT LUCIA

Surface Trough

Heavy rainfall and thunderstorms affected Saint Lucia from April 28th and continued throughout the day, April 29th and was expected to continue …

Surface Trough

Satellite Imagery taken at 3:52pm showing a dense mass of cloud covering most of the Eastern Caribbean.

Saint Lucia

Roseau river near Morne d'OrPhoto Credit: Veronica Simon

Lessons From the Past

Due to the devastation caused by the passage of Hurricane Tomas on October 30, 2010 several communities and their infrastructure are now known to be very vulnerable to flooding and ground failure.

TOMAS BECAME A HURRICANE IN ONE DAY: OCTOBER 30, 2010

Recognizing the danger

Tomas represented to locations in the eastern

Caribbean, Haiti, and possibly the Gulf of Mexico, all nations

were advised to pay close attention to Tomas’ path during

the first week of November.

.

In the eastern Caribbean, Tomas left at least 14 dead, many homeless, and island

nations suffering from millions of dollars in

damages to banana crops, housing, and infrastructure

from wind, flooding, and landslides

Tomas, a CAT 2 storm, was the

“the worst in Saint. Lucian history,” causing the loss of its

entire banana crop, which along with tourism, is extremely

important to Saint Lucia’s economy.

.

TOMAS: IMPACTS SAINT LUCIA

Flooding: Key Impacts

The Ministry of Health activated their Emergency Preparedness Protocols and evacuated the Soufriere Hospital.

2011 Flooding: Key Impacts

Access road to the Soufriere Hospital.

Soufriere Hospital in the background.

SAINT LUCIA [West Coast]: Soufriere SAINT LUCIA [West Coast]: Soufriere

SAINT LUCIA [East Coast]: DennerySAINT LUCIA [East Coast]: Dennery

SAINT LUCIA [South Coast]: Vieux Fort

SAINT LUCIA [South Coast]: Vieux Fort

SAINT LUCIA

SAINT LUCIA