Flying in The Caribbean

There are two major contributors which cause serious damage in the Caribbean when a hurricane does its worst; rain and wind. To my mind, those words are resolved by good drainage and secure roofs, but could equally take a negative turn at blocked drains and flying debris.

We have all heard the almost legendary tales of hurricanes relocating huge weights across almost ridiculous distances.  My personal favourite, which I witnessed, is the huge dent in the front yard of a Montserrat resident after Hurricane Hugo.  A full black plastic water tank was wind driven a few hundred yards, landing in the resident's garden.

That is an extreme case, but it is a fact that simple, unsecured items, as benign as they may appear, become missiles and rockets, death stars and hatchets, when fired at the speed of hurricane sustained winds.

Building sites and places where loose items have been stacked, are at particular risk.

Steel roof sheeting, no matter what length, will fly like paper on the breeze, only to crash, gouge, smash or worse, almost anything they land on.  The same for metal fittings and flashing if unsecured. Timber, regardless of its weight will do the same.

The Rule is "Expect and plan for the unexpected".

If you are in the throes of building, inspect your site, with your contractor.  Look for large objects which could become dislodged, especially on a slope, unsecured scaffolding and anything which may fall. Plywood can be a magic carpet, doing as much damage as roof sheeting and the makeshift builder’s shed could be an accident waiting to happen.  Jack up cement bags off ground level and cover with plastic.  
You get my point.

The old dictum of 'a clean site is an efficient site' is less that lightly, so be vigilant and ask your contractor to be the same; he is supposed to be responsible for your materials and building, so let him be so.

Our old friend water will also show its head as a formidable enemy on an unstable, disrupted building site, when the whole area is in transition.

“We were going to…” is not an acceptable answer when a natural water course was partially dammed or rerouted during dry weather, only to become Niagara Falls during a storm and undermine or demolish weeks or months of work. There are solutions to create temporary workarounds. It is neglect, incompetence or laziness to disregard potential disasters.