Orville Taylor | Hard road ahead

At least 75 per cent of Jamaican households lost electricity and property. Most Jamaicans have relatives or close friends living in the affected areas. Therefore, unless you are a fortunate half-soul, deeply comfortable in your household, Melissa had a major impact on you.

For doubters, including young birds; now you know storm. The numbers are yet to be finalised. Having lived through all major hurricanes to have hit us since Flora in 1963, even without the data from the Met Office and Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM), Melissa gave us the worst hit since.

Indeed, it was the most powerful system to have ever made landfall here, and despite decades of preparation and preparedness; we were no match for her.

Spinning close to 300 kph, but moving at joggers’ pace, she was like an automotive sander, scouring street surfaces, waterways, hillsides, roofs, entire houses and floating away shipping containers.

Two decades ago, in this column and on 94FM’s Hotline, the science was communicated that we were going to see more, larger and stronger hurricanes due to climate change.

For all the naysayers, this is what the future looks like. Our geological, meteorological and geographical scientists, along with those in life sciences, like my colleagues, Dale and Mona Webber, Simon Mitchell and Dwight Robinson, fully understand that Jamaica is just a tiny vivarium, where captive species have to exist in biological equilibrium.

We are simply a vulnerable place. Hurricanes follow the same currents that the slave ships took to get here. These global pathways of sea and air, were here before us and will continue, except with more ferocity.

Knowledge and information are critical. Unfortunately, given our freedom of expression, the multiple platforms of social media, and a panicking ‘dunceocracy’ who use ‘absent intellect’ (AI) and build vacuoles under to pretext of content, ignorance has become a pandemic. Doubtless, social media do help in passing on important facts, especially when credible news sources are simply unable to touch ground.

However, there is too much careless clutter being spread and passed off as factual.

Now, there are some interesting theories about hurricanes being weapons and artificially constructed and guided.

True, certainly since the 1970s, there have been scientific interventions with silver iodide dropped into cumulus clouds, via the process of cloud seeding.

However, the suggestion is that as in the movie Geostorm scientists under the leadership of earth’s powerful, control the entire system of weather on the globe, ultimately leading to a crisis.

Science might be moving in that direction; but given all the variables, we are nowhere near there. Added to that, are ideas of natural disasters being used to ‘cleanse’ cities, leaving them in rubble, as a prelude to the creation of smart cities and thus, greater control as we enter the era of the mark of the beast.

Well, if that is so, then the rack and pinion used by the geostormers are clearly not working. Perhaps, the myriad potholes in the ocean and on land damaged the tie rod and rack ends, making steering impossible. Although Savannah la Mar and Black River are parish capitals, Kingston is the capital city and the pulse of Jamaica.

Then, we have the ‘Judgment of God’ spouters. Again, either God has terrible aim, or he gave someone else the controls. Many church buildings, some around since the days of slavery as well as some more recent ones, from new denominations are reduced to nothing or suffered major structural damage. Maybe an obeahman might have lost a shed of two, but organised religion took a greater beating.

We can speculate and have all our cryptic explanations as to why Melissa came and with such force. Nevertheless, we have a reality, not based on theory or religious doctrine.

Any idiot can see that apart from the natural vulnerability of the island, the management of surface water needs to step up. Ask the miniscule number of hydraulics engineers about the outdated water corridors. Add to that, the failure to properly integrate water flow, soil saturation, pavement of erstwhile absorption areas, poor soil management, improper planning for home construction, and we have also worsened the problem.

Admittedly, this is post facto. However, too many residences are constructed in wrong places. And by the way, that includes upscale houses on hills owned and inhabited by our upper middle classes.

Still, we have to unite in our recovery and leave the hindsight to guide our rebuilding, not to cast blame and do political one-upmanship.

After all, close to 20 per cent of our roadways was impassable up to press time. For me the resilient Holland Bamboo, which felt the clout of Melissa’s wrath, is a symbol of the task ahead.

Like us all, bamboo is an alien, non native species, now fully domiciled. We bend and few break, but though uprooted, we reroot and survive.

Many huge holes in the bamboo canopy need filling and some academics are perfectly fit for the task.

A massive rescue and recovery operation is underway. Trust me, although patience is a luxury for people not in emergency situations; whenever one has no choice but to wait; then that is what the tough ones do.

My commendations to the police, exemplified by Superintendent Coleridge Minto and his team in St Elizabeth, who are as exhausted like Noah’s John Crows. To the workers, stranded in the hospitals but still doing yeoman work.

The JDF, JPS and NWC are putting extra work and time, and the fire brigade is firmly behind the parish councillors and NWA.

Melissa knew no colour, with 75 percent blackout, she could not see neither green nor orange.

Now is the time to be truly Jamaican.

Orville Taylor is senior lecturer at Department of Sociology at The University of the West Indies, a radio talk-show host, and author of ‘Broken Promises, Hearts and Pockets’. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and tayloronblackline@hotmail.com