Colonialism’s legacy has left Caribbean nations much more vulnerable to hurricanes

Pelican Press · October 23

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Colonialism’s legacy has left Caribbean nations much more vulnerable to hurricanes

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Long before colonialism brought slavery to the Caribbean, the native islanders saw hurricanes and storms as

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.

The

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of the Greater Antilles and the

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, or Caribs, of the Lesser Antilles developed systems that enabled them to live with storms and limit their exposure to damage.

On the larger islands, such as Jamaica and Cuba, the Taino practiced crop selection with storms in mind, preferring to plant root crops such as cassava or yucca with high resistance to damage from hurricane and storm winds, as Stuart Schwartz describes in his 2016 book “

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.”

The Kalinago avoided building their

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to limit storm surges and wind damage. The

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used trees as windbreaks against storm winds.

In fact, it was the Kalinago and Taino

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—primarily the British, Dutch, French and Spanish—about hurricanes and storms. Even the

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, a Taino and Mayan word denoting the

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.

But then colonialism changed everything.

I

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, including how history molded responses to disasters today.

The current disaster crisis that the Caribbean’s small islands are experiencing as hurricanes intensify did not start a few decades ago. Rather, the

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is a direct result of the exploitative systems forced upon the region by colonialism, its legacies of ******-based land policies and ill-suited construction and development practices, and its

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.

Forcing people into harm’s way

The colonial powers

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with the land, where they lived, and how they recovered from natural hazard events.

Rather than growing crops that could sustain the local food supply, the Europeans who began arriving in the 1600s focused on exploitative extractive economic models and exporting cash crops through the

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.

They forced Indigenous people off their lands and

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, which made it easier to import enslaved peoples and goods and to export cash crops such as sugar and tobacco to Europe—and also left communities vulnerable to storms. They also developed settlements in low-lying areas, often near rivers and streams, which could provide transportation for agricultural produce but which became flood risks during heavy rains.

Today,

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of the Caribbean’s population lives along the coast, often less than a mile from the shore. These coastlines are not only highly exposed to hurricanes but also to sea-level rise fueled by climate change.

Legacies of ******-based land policies

Colonialism’s legacy of land policies has also made recovery from disasters much ******* today.

When colonial powers took over, a few landowners were given control of most of the land, while the majority of the population was forced onto marginal and small areas. The local population had no legal right to the land, as the people did not possess land certificate titles or deeds and were often forced to pay rent to landlords.

After independence, most island governments tried

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and to redistribute it to the working class. But these efforts, mainly in the 1960s and ’70s,

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to transform land ownership, improve economic development or reduce vulnerability.

One colonial legacy perpetuating vulnerability to this day is known as crown land, or state land. In the English-speaking Caribbean, all land for which there was no land grant was considered

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. Crown land can be found on every English-speaking island to this day.

For example, in Barbuda, all land is vested in the “

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” on behalf of Barbudans. This means that an individual born on the island of Barbuda cannot individually own land.

Instead, land is

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, which limits access to the credit and development opportunities that were sorely needed to

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after Hurricane Maria in 2017. Most Barbudans were unable to insure their homes because they had

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.

This and

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land tenure systems created by colonialism place Caribbean residents at

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and limit their ability to seek financial credit for disaster recovery today.

The roots of poor construction

Vulnerability to disasters in the Caribbean also has roots in post-slavery

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and subsequent

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.

After emancipation from slavery, freed people had no right nor access to land. To build houses, they were forced to lease land from their former enslavers, who–at a whim–could terminate their employment or kick them off the land.

This led to the development of a particular type of housing structure known as

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in countries such as Barbados. These houses are tiny and were constructed in a way in which they could be easily taken apart and loaded onto carts, should the residents be forced out by their former enslavers. Many Bajans still

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, although quite a few have been converted to restaurants or shops.

In Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, owned by the Dutch,

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, on land not suitable for agriculture and easily damaged by storms. These former ****** huts are now tourist attractions, but the colonial patterns of settling along the coast has left many coastal communities

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and

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.

The vulnerability of such houses is not only a result of their exposure to natural hazards but also the

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.

On many islands today, poorer residents can’t afford protective measures, such as installing storm shutters or purchasing solar-powered generators.

They

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, such as steep hillsides, where housing tends to be cheaper. Houses in these areas are also often poorly constructed with low-grade materials, such as galvanized sheeting for roofs and walls.

This situation is made worse by the informal and unregulated nature of residential housing construction in the region and the

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.

Due to the

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, most housing or building standards or codes in the Commonwealth Caribbean are relics from the ******* Kingdom and in the French Antilles from France. Building standards across the region lack uniformity and are generally subjective and uncontrolled.

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and staffing constraints mean that codes and standards more often than not remain unenforced.

Progress, but still a lot of work to do

The Caribbean has made progress in developing

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to try to increase resilience in recent years. And while damage from torrential rain is still not properly addressed by most Caribbean building standards, scientific guidance is available through the

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in Barbados.

Individual islands, including

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and

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, have new minimum building standards for recovery after disasters. The island of Grenada is hoping to

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as it recovers from Hurricane Beryl. Trinidad and Tobago has developed a

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but has

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.

Construction standards can help the islands build resilience. But work ******** to be done to overcome the legacy of colonial-era land policies and development that have left island towns vulnerable to increasing storm risks.

Provided by
The Conversation

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Colonialism’s legacy has left Caribbean nations much more vulnerable to hurricanes (2024, October 22)
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Colonialism’s legacy has left Caribbean nations much more vulnerable to hurricanes

Forcing people into harm’s way

Legacies of ******-based land policies

The roots of poor construction

Progress, but still a lot of work to do

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