RE:ACT Team Paves Way for Rapid Response to Caribbean Emergencies

International Operations Manager Paul Taylor and responder Jim Scott have just returned from two weeks in the Caribbean. But this was no upmarket holiday.

Paul and Jim were on a mission to ensure that RE:ACT was ready to respond swiftly and with maximum effectiveness once a call comes from the region following a devastating hurricane.

The importance of the trip was highlighted by Hurricane Fiona which raged across Puerto Rico and Turks and Caicos whilst our team was out there.

“As a US territory there was significant capacity to respond in Puerto Rico. The Eastern side of Turks and Caicos was also affected but within local coping capacity,” says Paul.

“We were watching it very carefully and were also tracking Hurricane Ian which at one point looked like it might have hit the Bahamas but eventually made landfall on mainland USA. It really hammered home how vital this mission was,” he added.

The recce started in Barbados and then moved to Antigua, British Virgin Islands (BVI), Turks and Caicos (TCI) and finally The Bahamas.

“Jim and I had three main objectives which were all achieved. The first was to develop an operational partnership with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) and the national disaster management agencies of Antigua, BVI, TCI and The Bahamas,” explains Paul.

“The second was to foster an operational partnership with local charities and non-governmental agencies (NGOs) across the region in order to facilitate an effective hurricane response, and thirdly we wanted to engage with friends, RE:ACT supporters and those who might provide financial or logistical support in order to facilitate an effective hurricane response.”

RE:ACT teams have previously responded to Hurricane Matthew in Haiti in 2016, Hurricane Irma in the BVI in 2017 and Hurricane Dorian in The Bahamas in 2019, but because of the Pandemic there has been a two-year hiatus in our international operations.

“We had an outstanding relationship with many people across the islands because of all that amazing work on earlier emergencies, but because of COVID-19 we realised we had to go and rekindle existing relationships and develop new ones,” continues Paul.

“We met all manner of people. Friends we saw on our previous travels who were providing board and lodgings and connections to others who might provide assistance. Regional and national level disaster managers, search and rescue organisations who can move us between the islands on their boats, the Governor of the BVI and Rotarians who are always on the ground in the aftermath of a disaster helping those in need.”

Paul says the trip was “incredibly useful”.

“RE:ACT has now regained any ground we may have lost over that two-year hiatus and are now poised for an effective response should our assistance be requested in the Caribbean. On the back of this recce, we are now developing links with the British Overseas Territories and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCDO) and there are a number of training opportunities we are developing too,” Paul explains.

“This visit was essential from an operational point of view and thankfully the Mactaggart Foundation made this possible by raising money at an event in London. Molly Mactaggart is one of our responders and was with me on the Bahamian island of Abaco which was devastated by Hurricane Dorian in 2019,” says Paul.

“This recce will help us to more effectively support people not only in The Bahamas but right across the region.”