The Tribune

THERE has been much talk lately of the impact of climate change on the economy – but the very human cost of climate disasters are still with us.

In today’s Tribune, survivors of Hurricane Dorian tell of how nearly three years on from the storm they are still struggling to get back to normal.

Joanna Bootle tells of how her family are struck by anxiety when the weather gets bad during hurricane season, saying “you kinda get on edge, praying that we don’t receive any storms.”

When Dorian hit, she suffered injuries all over her body as the storm smashed 80 percent of her home’s windows, leaving her with cuts. They fled their home and rode out the storm in a neighbour’s house.

Edward Armbrister tells a similar story of how his children start crying any time it starts raining or there is lightning. He told of being trapped in an apartment in the storm where the bathroom and kitchen roof came off but they couldn’t push the doors open, and watched as his car was bent into a U shape by the power of the storm. He told of how his daughter almost drowned in flood water trying to get to shelter afterwards, and how survivors were left to search for food for days with food stores destroyed.

Another survivor, Terry Joe Price, tells of how the slogan Abaco Strong kept her going in the aftermath.

Next week, a series of memorial events will be held to mark the third anniversary of the storm – but its effects are still with us.

They are in the minds of those who came through the storm. They are in the hearts of families who lost loved ones in the hurricane.

And somehow, horrifyingly, things are still getting worse. Another 1,200 hurricane victims have now asked for help from the government – in addition to the 2,500 already being helped under the former administration.

All this time on and still more people are reaching out for help – it shows the depth of the storm’s impact, and that we need to do more still to help people rebuild.

That the government is extending the help further is welcome – but the news that people who didn’t previously feel they needed help are now moved to ask for it shows that the recovery and rebuilding effort hasn’t succeeded in the way we might have hoped or expected.

Help goes beyond financial, however.

As next week’s anniversary events are held, there will be many with physical or mental scars from the storm who will need friends, who will need family, who will need someone to help them get through. It will bring back painful memories. To those who know people who came through the storm, reach out to them and be willing to listen. The horror of those days will linger throughout people’s lifetimes – the least the rest of us can do is help.

Union deals

Credit where it is due – two industrial agreements signed yesterday is a significant achievement. The first, with the Bahamas Nurses Union, has been long unresolved, with a sector of our workforce we have depended on so much through the pandemic.

The second, between the National Insurance board and the Public Managers Union, resolves negotiations that had stalled for two years.

Add to that teachers returning to class and not carrying out threatened industrial action, and it’s a good week for the government in labour relations.