Hurricane Beryl: A Critical Post-Mortem Required
Hurricane Beryl has now passed through the Caribbean, leaving a trail of death and destruction. Yet, amidst this devastation, we witness the unwavering “resilience” of those islands and individuals who have suffered. Our hearts go out to them.
In the wake of Hurricane Beryl, the pressing question is: what’s the next step?
The Caribbean Risk Management Academy (CRMA) was set to hold our 6th Caribbean risk management conference in Jamaica on July 25. This conference, now rescheduled to October 24, 2024, holds even more significance in the wake of Hurricane Beryl. I respectfully submit that the theme, Navigating Transformation: Embracing Enterprise Risk Management for Future Success, and the main topic, Building Resilience to Disruption: A Modern Risk Management Requirement, is now more relevant than ever.
Building (organizational/country) Resilience to Disruption: A Modern Risk Management Requirement.
Organizational resilience requires a deliberate effort to design resilience characteristics into five layers:
- Leadership,
- Culture,
- People,
- Processes
- Infrastructure
What do these statements mean to you?
What thoughts are generated when you read this now?
The response to the effects/impact of this hurricane should not be business as usual after a hurricane. We must be anticipatory (recognize extreme weather events are the new normal), apply new thinking, and be more risk-informed in our approach in the future.
I would suggest some changes to the “thinking” around “what comes next,” and I suggest the following for consideration:
- Building “modern” resilience networks into private and public sector institutions.
- The focus should be on ‘pre-build,’ not just re-build (resilience is more about bouncing forward, not returning to what previously existed)
- Preparation is not an antidote to being vulnerable
- Disaster risk management, singularly relied upon, is not a fait accompli.
We are looking forward to talking with you on October 24 in Jamaica… Be safe out there.
Cheers my friends!