Natural disasters cannot be prevented, as was evident last Saturday in Bandabou. Enormous local downpours caused floods and dragged everything in their path towards the sea. Fortunately, there were no personal casualties, but there was damage to properties and the natural landscape. Even the Meteorological Service of Curaçao, which had issued a pre-warning for rainfall and rough seas, was surprised by the sudden cloudburst and its consequences. 

Although we cannot stop natural disasters, we can certainly prepare for them. The heavy rainfall, such as that experienced locally in Bandabou on Saturday, although rare, is not unknown. Bad weather has occurred before and has consistently shown that the resulting damage is disproportionate, partly because we do not prepare adequately. 

If we had ensured that the dams and catchment basins, as our ancestors wisely knew, were well maintained, we would not have had breaches with rainwater seeking the shortest route to the sea and dragging everything in its path. 

Today, a portion of the entire dam system and the catchment basins behind it has disappeared and been replaced with houses. The rest has been severely neglected, which deliberately invites problems of waterlogging. The natural drainage ditches, largely dry for most of the year, are not kept clean or are thoughtlessly filled in due to human expansion. Once again, this is deliberately asking for trouble. 

Disaster Response Team 

I read that following the Bandabou crisis, the disaster response team has been convened. This is good for a coordinated approach to what needs to be done after the disaster to determine priorities. It is good that there is a disaster response team that acts coordinatively after calamities, but is there also an organization that focuses on thinking and taking actions to mitigate the consequences of predictable calamities beforehand? 

Firstly, the dams, underlying water catchment areas, and drainage ditches. These are widely known and possibly already largely mapped out. How difficult is it to establish a maintenance plan with all the necessary stakeholders? Naturally, a financial plan is needed, and it will not be insignificant. 

However, the recurring plea that there is no money in the budget can easily be reversed. An annual fixed budget item must be included for addressing overdue maintenance of our natural infrastructure. There are certainly items that can be reduced or eliminated. 

The same applies to the road infrastructure for which, notably, citizens pay road taxes annually. This should be earmarked for repairing existing roads and constructing new ones. 

The recent crisis in Bandabou should serve as a wake-up call for potential future and larger natural disasters. Sporadic, but not impossible. What about a hurricane or even just a storm? We must learn from past experiences, such as the damage caused by Storm Tomas in 2010, and take action to strengthen our infrastructure. 

Example 

May I give an example of a situation that screams for problems in the future? Driving around our island, we see a tangle of wires on lampposts along the roads. We are so used to it that most of us don't even notice. Electricity, telephone, and internet are delivered to households on the island via this overhead cable network. 

Sometimes we get a signal of how vulnerable this system is when, for example, a car knocks over a lamppost, interrupting the power and signal supply to a neighborhood for some time. I guarantee you that if a storm sweeps across our island, the entire island will be without electricity and communication for days, maybe even longer. 

With all the consequences for our economy and personal living conditions. Electricity and communication are undoubtedly basic needs. Why aren't all these cables forced underground? It costs money, but a disaster is even more expensive. 

Climate Change 

We must acknowledge that climate change has real consequences and that we need to adapt to changing conditions. Global warming leads to more frequent and severe natural disasters. Some are short and intense, like hurricanes, while others are silent phenomena that slowly but surely bring their adverse effects to us. 

We may not think about sea level rise every day, but we are increasingly seeing its consequences. Beaches are shrinking as sand is washed away by rising waters. The seawater is creeping up on Punda and Otrabanda. With continued rise, floods will become unavoidable. 

Already, the center of Willemstad is actually too low, causing problems with sewage due to the lack of natural drainage. Expensive pumps are needed, and given our maintenance compliance, they are more likely to be broken than working. As a result, the city's wastewater is discharged directly into the sea, with all the consequences for the coral reef. A reef that is already under heavy pressure due to global temperature rise in both the air and the sea. 

In short, there is an urgent need for a large-scale, transparent, and clear approach to prepare Curaçao for disasters, with preventive measures not being optional but mandatory, possibly even enforced. 

Jeff Sybesma is a retired jurist and biologist. He is a member of the Advisory Council, a judge at the Joint Court, and a board member of Carmabi.