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ground.) The tourism industry, which has a business interest in
acting fast, is leading the charge.
In Dominica, that includes people such as Walsh and Daniel
Langlois, a budding hotelier with a project in development
in the village of Soufrière. Together they’re spearheading
Resilient Dominica, or RezDM, a branch of Langlois’s foun-
dation, which has been supporting science and technology
research on the island since 1997. RezDM has several projects
under way—each focused on present and future needs.
One is a pilot program at the primary school in Soufrière
that will not only provide food for lunches but will also cre-
ate stockpiled reserves in case another storm temporarily cuts
of the island. There’s a tool-lending program, as well, which
ofers no-cost assistance for rebuilding, and a centralized depot
for vehicles that can clear roads and debris if needed. And the
solar panels RezDM is installing on one-tenth of the island’s
homes will be removable, so they don’t become storm haz-
ards or get damaged.
Despite Dominica’s ambitions, the irst climate-resilient
island may actually be 200 miles away in the French West
Indies. “St. Barts was as hurricane-proof as any island could
be,” says Nils Dufau, president of Tourisme de St. Barts.
Because of the island’s wealth, strict building codes, and smart
preventive strategies, St. Barts came through the storms rel-
atively unscathed. (The main cause of damage—and lingering
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May 14, 2018
hotel closures—was looding.) “Our electric grid was already
three-quarters underground, and now we’re accelerating the
rest,” Dufau says. “It means most of the island didn’t lose
power—and for those who did, it wasn’t for long.” St. Barts
is now testing marine barriers, watertight doorways, and
“wash-through channels” that protect building foundations,
all to ease lood damage from storms.
Ironically, the islands that were spared this time around
may be slower to achieve resilient status. “Countries that were
not as badly hit will incorporate best practices in their
new
buildings,” Dominica’s Baron says, “but nobody is going to
remove a roof that stayed on to make it stronger.” Because
of its widespread devastation, Dominica will take longer to
rebuild, but its resiliency eforts should be more thorough.
Other islands are prioritizing similar eforts, which pre-
viously may have been delayed because of cost. The gov-
ernment of the British Virgin Islands is running water and
electricity underground on Tortola. The owners of Guana
Island, a secluded resort, are doing the same on their own
dime. Oil Nut Bay, a hotel on Virgin Gorda, is encouraging
locals to invest in AstroGuard, a type of clip-on fabric win-
dow shutter that’s virtually indestructible and afordable to
install. In Jamaica, proponents of the cruise industry have
commissioned an eco-sensitive lexible jetty to be built near
Kingston in early 2019. In good times it will allow more cruise
ships to call, but in bad times, it can be strategically reposi-
tioned to receive emergency supplies. And in Puerto Rico,
hotels such as the Condado Vanderbilt are collaborating with
local nonproits to grow artiicial coral reefs that will protect
the shoreline in a future storm.
Rebuilding coral reefs must be a top priority—at least
as important as structurally improved roofs—says Luis
Solórzano, executive director of the Caribbean division of the
Nature Conservancy, which is leading a four-year climate-re-
siliency efort across the region. “The solutions can’t just be
about concrete and iron,” he says. Aerial damage surveys have
shown that reefs and mangrove forests can absorb an aston-
ishing 98 percent of a wave’s energy in a storm. Accordingly,
local groups are exploring processes such as lab-based coral
germination and micro-fragmentation, which let conserva-
tionists grow tens of thousands of coral pieces per month
and graft them onto struggling reefs.
Replanting trees along riversides and in forests, however,
is the simplest answer: They prevent erosion, which desta-
bilizes coral. The more coral that survives, the less damage
there will be on the coast in the event of another storm. “We
have to give nature an opportunity to provide us with resil-
ience. It makes a visible impact,” Solórzano says.
Healthier coral, better infrastructure, stricter building
codes, safer electrical grids—all are key tools in a vital strug-
gle. As Dominica Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit put it in
an address to the General Assembly of the United Nations,
“We ind ourselves at the front line of a war that we did not
start. And it is one we cannot stop.” The hope, though, is that
it’s one Dominica—and the Caribbean at large—can win.
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ILLUSTRATION BY CYNTHIA KITTLER