Early warning realities

[NewsWhore]

Hoy is reporting that emergency rescue organizations in the DR lack the basic equipment needed to warn people living in vulnerable zones and prevent tragedies like Noel. These statements came from a Center for Emergency Operations official who wished to remain anonymous. The official said that if tomorrow a storm, causing the damage that Noel caused, were to hit the DR there is nothing the Civil Defense could do to prevent more tragedies. He added that in some communities Civil Defense workers don't even have the orange shirts that identify them. The National Emergency Commission needs 3,500 radios, but there are less than 300 nationwide and most of them are used by volunteers for their own personal use. During the beginning of rescue operations in the aftermath of Noel, the CNE only had 54 radios and workers used personal phones to communicate with each other, and that only if they had the money to buy phone cards. The Civil Defense only has offices in 18 of 32 provinces and of these only 10% have phones. Only six provinces have pick-up trucks, and the National District has a motorcycle. Only 16 municipalities have motorcycles and there is a shortage of transport equipment in the 138 municipalities. The same official reported an incident in the south where the Civil Defense was warned about Noel but didn't have the money to call and warn others, and another worker responded that a rescue truck didn't have tires.
In response, CNE director Luis Luna Paulino said that the CNE could prepare the country for natural disasters if it had an annual budget of RD$600 million. But in an embarrassing moment, when Luna was asked how much the CNE's budget would actually be, he walked away from the podium.
For an interesting discussion of preparedness and TS Noel, see http://www.dr1.com/forums/weather-beyond/68410-tropical-storm-noel-why.html

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