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CDM - Prevention
Prevention

What is: Prevention?

We have all heard the phrase: “prevention is better than cure”. You may not have paid attention to the meaning behind it, but in disaster management, it’s important that you are aware of this crucial step.

Prevention is anything you could do to avoid the damage that results from a disaster. We know that many of these disasters cannot be evaded. It is impossible to stop a hurricane, or any other hazard, in its path. However, what can be done is avoid some of the damage caused by of them.

There are many reasons why we should take prevention seriously. The most obvious is because preventative measures save money. Let’s imagine that your house has flooded and your walls, floors, wiring, furniture and other parts of your home must be repaired or replaced. Compare the cost of doing all of this to the cost of constructing barriers, which would be much less. This isn’t just true for private homes. For Governments, the money spent rebuilding infrastructure would be far more than the cost of installing preventative measures.

There is also the human cost, which cannot be calculated or replaced. In situations where lives can be saved, everything should be done to make this possible.

For places like the Caribbean that are disaster prone, there isn’t the question of “if a disaster strikes”, there’s only “when”. Prevention shouldn’t be a question, only an answer.

 
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