By KHRISNA RUSSELL

Deputy Chief Reporter

krussell@tribunemedia.net

WHILE 1.5 billion pounds of debris remains strewn across Marsh Harbour following deadly Hurricane Dorian, it is a harsh reminder that the country's building code needs revision to withstand monster storms.

Housing and Environment Minister Romauld Ferreira said yesterday that an overhaul of the building code could encompass various things to enhance the fortitude of homes and protect them from dangerous storm surges and ferocious winds.

When Dorian pummelled Abaco two weeks ago, it flattened homes and businesses, ultimately destroying almost everything in its path. In the aftermath of the Category Five storm, government officials have said they now have to update the standards by which homes and other structures are built. Otherwise, the minister said the cycle will never end, as the affects of climate change continues to be felt around the world.

"Hurricane events like Dorian are only going to continue to be more frequent and only going to get stronger," the environment minister said. "Therefore as a part of the adjustment, the adaptation for resilience, we have to look at the building codes.

"Otherwise we'd be doing this and repeating this function over and over again and so that means then that the building codes have to be visited. Houses need to be designed in such a way to withstand stronger winds.

"In the '70s we revisited the building code. We must look at it again because houses now have to be built to withstand gusts of 200mph winds.

"I mean this is going to become commonplace unfortunately as we move forward."

If the building code is amended, the minister said he expected several changes to be made.

"In real terms, that would mean the type of steel and the grade of steel depending on the structure of the building; the richness of the concrete depending on the type of structure; the depth of the foundation.

"How far above sea level do we actually build to prevent flooding? How many clips do you put on the rafters you put on? Then the strength of the clips (and) the amount of nails. Every single detail would have to be evaluated to give you that result for your home, which is most people's largest investment in their life that can withstand these events," he said.

He said while there may be some who have lost homes and are waiting for insurance claims to be processed, there were others who don't fall into this category, but government would do all in its power to return them to normalcy.

Ahead of Dorian's landfall, Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis said the Bahamas' building code was among the best in the region. However many structures proved to be no match for Dorian's fury.

"We have some of the best standards of home building within this region, and our homes are built to withstand at least 150 miles per hour, so this will put us to a test that we've never confronted before," Dr Minnis said on September 1.

As officials figure out the best solution for building structures, there is an extraordinary volume of debris in Marsh Harbour alone.

The situation has forced officials to formulate a debris management plan, the minister said.

With the help of a United Nations development programme, officials estimated that there is about two million cubic metres of debris or 1.5bn pounds of various matter that needs to be removed.

However, this presents another challenge in that the landfill and dump systems in Marsh Harbour will most likely be overwhelmed. So, the next best option is to take the waste out of the country to other locations better suited for this type of situation.

It is an undertaking that could cost well into the tens of millions of dollars, Mr Ferreira said. The ministry will also need additional manpower.

"A key feature of the plan is we hope to actually take these items out of the country because obviously such a large amount is going to overwhelm the landfill and dump systems of Marsh Harbour," the Marathon MP said ahead of yesterday's Cabinet meeting.

"We'd like to take it outside of the country because as you are aware Marsh Harbour has a landfill. It has its challenges but that's going to quickly overwhelm any kind of situation and, of course, we have to separate the debris. There's going to be concrete, rubble (and) vegetative debris. There's going to be metals.

"There's actually a boat sitting on top of a roof in Marsh Harbour. It's quite something to see. That gives you an idea of how high the sea surge was and the kinds of impact it had.

"So the waste has to be collected. It has to be sorted. It has to be reduced in volume, which means the use of a shredder or some cutting devices and then, of course, we take it out the country."