Caribbean territories are highly vulnerable to the impacts of hazards resulting from hydro-meteorological, seismic or geologic triggers. There are few studies of loss and damage caused by floods in the Caribbean and fewer relating to the intensity of the event. For example, the EM-DAT database indicates that 119 floods occurred in the Caribbean since 1983. This resulted in 49833 deaths, 3,963,286 people affected and $866,325,000 worth of damage. Of this figure, 3353 (67%) deaths occurred in a single event in Hispaniola in 2004. The figures for damage are missing for 99 of the 119 events.

This policy brief visits the issues with current shortfalls in data collection, especially regarding rainfall intensity, watershed boundaries and historic impact, loss and damage, along with inadequate analogue data storage, and explores potential solutions.

Picture: Ryan Mitchell