The Bahamas: A Natural Disaster Analysis

A natural disaster is defined as the occurrence of an abnormal or infrequent hazard that affects vulnerable communities or geographic areas, causing substantial damage, disruption, and perhaps casualties. From an economic perspective, a natural disaster can be taken as a natural event that causes a disturbance to the functioning of the economic system with significant negative impact on assets, production factors, output, employment and consumption (Hallengate & Przyluski, 2010). While the Bahamas is susceptible to a wide range of natural disasters, the most common and most probable are extreme climatic events namely tropical storms and hurricanes. The Bahamas is an archipelago with more than 700 islands and cays, spread over 100,000 square

According to Acevedo (2016) “The impact of hurricanes is felt mostly in the destruction of capital stock which includes damages to housing, roads, buildings, utility poles, communication and electrical wires”. In New Providence, after the passage of hurricane Sandy, there were more than 700 million dollars in damages to infrastructure. Key infrastructure along the coastline was affected, including the international airport, the cruise ship harbor and key road transportation routes and facilities. In Grand Bahama, according to the island administrator for Grand Bahama, 95% of the buildings in the western areas of Eight Mile Rock and Holmes Rock received significant damage from Hurricane Matthew and most buildings had either portions or all of their roofs completely blown off. In the eastern end of the island there was debris everywhere, with damages to most buildings, lamp poles forced down and numerous trees knocked onto roadways making them impassable. There were high winds of up to 140 miles per hour with severe flooding in the aftermath of the storm. Throughout the city of Freeport there were numerous utility poles, trees, electrical wires, and billboards that were destroyed or blown down. Electricity services had been cut and water supplies were limited in many areas. The central police station was totaled by storm surges which forced the police force to relocate. The police garage

Increased numbers of natural disasters during recent years continue to increase the negative impact on economic development in food security and in the agricultural industry. The high winds and heavy rainfalls associated with a hurricane usually results in extensive flooding and considerable structural damages to crops while negatively affecting production capacities. During hurricane Frances, all cool-season vegetable plantings as well as the entire banana crop was lost. In Eleuthera, the pineapple crop was significantly impacted by wind damage and the poultry sector was completely decimated. In Long Island and Cat Island, the entire corn crop was lost. In Grand Bahama, there were numerous reports as it relates to the agricultural sector immediately following the passage of hurricane Frances and Jeanne. Farmers on that island reported water contamination, losses of crops and livestock, as well as damages to farm machinery, irrigation systems and transport structures. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, the damage to agriculture absorbs 41.1% of the total economic impact caused by hurricanes. Additionally, of all the damages and losses done by climate related disasters, an average of 25% is inflicted upon the agricultural sector. Natural disasters can “produce food insecurity, produce disruptions along the food value chain, reduce