‘ABC’ Red Cross disaster plans activated for 'Felix'

The Netherlands Red Cross (NLRC) overseas branches in Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao activated their disaster plans as Hurricane Felix passed nearby over the weekend of September 1.

The disaster teams in Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao Red Cross Societies began making individual preparations on August 30, working in support of the respective government agencies.

Shelters in Curaçao were checked and cleaned, with residents able to seek cover from 6 p.m. The local bus company provided free transport from three meeting points to those wanting to go to a shelter. The Curaçao Red Cross tracing team was activated on September 2 but did not receive many calls.

On the island of Bonaire, some of the elderly and physically challenged were asked to stay with family, while others were accommodated at a day care centre. Bonaire Red Cross volunteers were pre-positioned at two locations.

In Aruba – which was expected to feel the effects of a then Category 2 Felix as it passed 30 km off their coast -  preparations were made to accommodate residents in the Aruba Red Cross shelter. Forty volunteers were placed on standby.

Two Red Cross stations were activated in Oranjestad and San Nicolas. Tourists from the low-rise hotels were evacuated from seaside rooms to other areas.

The Aruba Red Cross received support from tourism-oriented companies as they loaned vehicles. The local telecom provider, Setar, assisted with radio communications.

Throughout the period of Felix’s passage, all three islands communicated with each other, as well as with Thomas Doyle, the Disaster Management delegate of the International Federation’s Pan-American Disaster Response Unit, and the NLRC delegate on Curaçao, Ingrid Jansen.

Jansen liased constantly with the NLRC's Domestic Disaster Relief Department and they in turn were in contact with the Expertise Centre for Risk and Crisis Communication of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Netherlands.

Sint Maarten Red Cross, another NLRC overseas branch in the Caribbean, also mobilized its volunteers in case support was needed. Sint Maarten is located miles away, near the islands of Antigua & Barbuda.

The damage from ‘Felix’ was not as anticipated: there was some flooding, fallen trees and downed electricity poles resulting in half the island of Aruba with no electricity.