By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

BRITISH High Commissioner Tom Hartley said the United Kingdom is ready to support the Bahamas in any way it can in response to hurricane disasters.

“I think Dorian shocked everybody about just how bad climate-fueled hurricanes can be,” he said, assuring that the UK’s partnership with the Bahamas is for the long run.

The Royal Navy was the first on the ground in the Bahamas as a lifeline to many in the first couple of days after Hurricane Dorian.

“We want to see this as a serious part of our partnership and how we support the Bahamas and Bahamians respond to climate change as a key factor to our relationship,” Mr Hartley said.

On Tuesday, he met with the Disaster Reconstruction Authority chairman and managing director Alex Storr and was pleased with the new legislation that merges the DRA and NEMA.

Mr Hartley said that the UK can provide access to expertise and support on the insurance that can benefit the Bahamas.

“What the UK has been doing across the Caribbean is Disaster Risk Insurance,” he said.

He stated that the Bahamas government could take out insurance on Water Sewerage works at triple-A prices that are much cheaper, and also insurance for tidal surges.

“That is one of the things we are doing regionally, and we would like The Bahamas to have access to that,” said the British diplomat.

Mr Hartley said there are lots of expertise in the UK, including experts in civil engineering, flooding, or project management that could help the DRA

“The UK does not have hurricanes, but we do have a lot of flooding, and we have a lot of experience to mitigate that and plan for it,” he stated.

“There are lots of different ways we can connect and deepen these relationships, and I think insurance expertise is something that is on the table right now, ready to go,” he stated.

Mr Hartley stressed that geospatial mapping and building regulations are also necessary when it comes to hurricane preparedness.

“In the UK, we make the mis- take of thinking that it is the wind speed that can kill people, but I think Dorian reminded us that it is a tidal surge that did a lot of the damage to communities and families,” he stated.

Mr Hartley had the opportunity to travel to Abaco just before Christmas to see the hurricane shelter that is being built there to withstand a Category 5 Hurricane and 20ft of tidal surge.

He was impressed and said that it is a good idea that the facility can serve as a multi- purpose building for community events.

“There is an awful lot of thinking going on. And it is a real sense of partnership of what it is that the Royal Navy can do, what other agencies can do, and what is it that we can do to work out where the gaps are,” he said.