HURRICANE IVAN -- INITIAL DAMAGE ASSESSMENT
1.0 INTRODUCTION
This report provides the assessed cost of damage caused by the effects of Hurricane Ivan. It is only an Initial Damage Assessment (IDA) and does not include any significant details. Despite providing damage assessment from a sectoral standpoint, it must still be considered preliminary, particularly insofar as cost is concerned.
2.0 METHODOLOGY
As has become the norm, the Disaster And Needs Assessment (DANA) Team comprised two groups of assessors, one in the south (Aux Lyon to Anse La Raye) and the other in the North. The basic methodology involved contacting district disaster co-ordinators in the regions that were identified in the Situational Report as having suffered damage. Where no or very minimal damage was reported the groups simply confirmed those reports and moved on to other locations.
The most inspection time was spent on those sites where damage was reported as being heavy. Some of these include, Dennery South along the waterfront, Dennery North and three sites in the Castries region.
3.0 SITE VISITS
Despite earlier reports, which suggested that the south would have suffered the brunt of the damage, there was no reported damage in the Vieux Fort area. However, the coastline of Dennery, as has been the case for years, suffered a battering. Sand was lost allowing encroachment of the sea and several houses were damaged. There were collapsed walls and foundations and undermining of foundations.
In the Castries area the main damage appear to have been a result of fallen trees. Two houses were completely damaged and one may have to be relocated to prevent any further disaster.
4.0 SECTORAL DAMAGE
The core DANA Team only concentrated on housing, building related damage and minor infrastructure to a lesser extent. Damage as per the economic sectors were assessed by the different sector leaders and reports forwarded to NEMO. The damage as summarised from the different sector reports is shown in Table I, and the District related damage is highlighted in Table II.
All costs are indeed preliminary and will be subject to changes as and when the Detailed Sector Assessments are undertaken. Notwithstanding the preliminary nature of this, the prices used are all reflective of current construction and labour rates. Where, Ministries were not able to provided an estimate of damage, but their report was detailed enough, the DANA Team developed some prices based on previous experiences and knowledge of the construction industry.
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