MGHH01: ACS Disaster Preparedness Pays Off During Hurricane

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 000773

SIPDIS

STATE PASS HURRICANE MONITORING GROUP

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: AEMR ASEC CASC KFLO MARR PREL PINR AMGT MX
CU, XL, XK, JM
SUBJECT: MGHH01: ACS Disaster Preparedness Pays Off During Hurricane
Gustav

Ref: A) Kingston 262 B) Kingston 762


1. SUMMARY: Embassy Kingston's hurricane and disaster preparedness
efforts were put to the test when Tropical Storm Gustav veered
suddenly, hitting Jamaica directly and building to Category 3
strength as it struck the Cayman Islands. For the past year, the
Mission's American Citizen Services (ACS) Unit has been procuring
essential emergency equipment, assembling flyaway kits, combing
through and updating warden system registrations and drafting
protocols for hurricane emergencies. These advance planning efforts
contributed to good communication and to ensuring the safety and
security of American Citizens in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands as
Gustav stormed through the Caribbean. END SUMMARY


2. Embassy Kingston has placed a major focus on disaster
preparations for American citizens over the past years, especially
since Hurricane Dean claimed lives and caused massive infrastructure
damage to Jamaica in August 2007. Kingston safeguards consular and
American citizen interests for Jamaica and the Cayman Islands, both
of which host very large numbers of American citizen tourists during
hurricane season. Embassy disaster readiness efforts paid dividends
when the Gustav storm track suddenly swerved south overnight to pass
directly over Kingston, claiming at least 13 lives and cutting a
swath of landslides and damage across the length and breadth of
Jamaica before building to Category 3 force as it hit the Cayman
Islands.


3. But for a last minute course change that spared Kingston from
the worst, the impact of 2007's Category 5 Hurricane Dean could have
been catastrophic. Dean's close call spurred intensive lessons
learned as well as analysis and continuous disaster prep efforts by
Kingston's American Citizens Unit throughout this past year. (See
Ref A.) Before the pavement was dry, we began acquiring and
assembling emergency supplies for flyaway kits and pre-positioning
at our Montego Bay and Cayman consular agencies. We completely
revamped our wardens network, recruiting and training new wardens
where needed and broadening our outreach capabilities to American
citizen residents. We reached out to every major resort and hotel
in Jamaica, building a database with emergency contacts, the numbers
of Americans staying at each during the height of hurricane season,
and hotel hurricane operations plans.


4. Pre-deployment of consular officers to the main tourist centers,
Montego Bay and the Cayman Islands was a core lesson learned from
Hurricane Dean and served us well. As Gustav approached Jamaica and
the Cayman Islands, we had on-site reports of departure flights'
status, hurricane preparations, deliberations by the Cayman
Government on whether to call for evacuation, hotel occupancies and
operations, and the pulse of American tourists' anxiety (or lack
thereof) in advance of the hurricane. Our hotel database proved
useful as we maintained regular contact with major tourist resorts
throughout the emergency. We also transmitted two wardens' messages
to AmCit residents and visitors in Jamaica and the Cayman Islands
conveying hurricane updates and security information.


5. Fortunately, by landfall in Jamaica, the strength of the storm
had dropped from a Category 1 hurricane to a less devastating but
still dangerous Tropical Storm with wind gusts of up to 90 MPH and
massive rains. The Embassy closed on August 28; only core Emergency
Action Committee (EAC) and ACS staff stayed to monitor the storm and
coordinate American citizen response with our pre-deployed consular
officers and consular agents. The Embassy EAC met throughout the
day to discuss issues related to storm preparations and response.
On Friday August 29, with torrential rains pounding the city, core
EAC members monitored events and participated in Gustav Monitoring
Group teleconferences from their residences.


6. No hurricane-related deaths or injuries of American Citizens
have been reported in the Consular District. However, roads in many
areas throughout Jamaica have been cut off by landslides and some
Americans are still sheltering-in-place while roads are cleared.
The Consular Section has spent the last two days rescheduling
applicants whose visa appointments on August 28-29 had to be
postponed. All applicants with emergency appointments have been
scheduled to return on Wednesday, September 2, and we expect to
accommodate all other delayed visa interview appointments by the end
of this week.


7. Comment: Post greatly appreciated the regular conference calls
of the Gustav Monitoring Group, which continued through the weekend.
These calls provided an excellent, time-effective forum for
obtaining the latest information on the ground and responding to
questions from the Department. Given the possibility of
telecommunications breakdown in hurricane scenarios, the key
acquisition of two satellite phones provided a welcome measure of
comfort when pre-deploying consular officers to outlying locations.
While Jamaica and the Caymans were fortunate to avoid even worse
devastation and larger loss of life in this instance, Gustav
provided confirmation of the basic soundness of Embassy Kingston's

KINGSTON 00000773 002 OF 002


hurricane and disaster preparedness efforts. We are now commencing
lessons learned from Gustav in order to refine our readiness for
future hurricanes.

Heg