The Tribune

By MALCOLM STRACHAN

JUST over three months after Hurricane Dorian, the resilience of thousands of displaced Bahamians struggling with tremendous loss is palpable.

Even as we try to go through the motions this festive season, we all know that something is different. Despite many families understanding how fleeting the precious time with loved ones can be, hundreds of our brothers and sisters will know exactly what it is like to experience the agony of losing them just months ago, and in some cases, not having any idea where their bodies are.

That’s the reality this Christmas.

While their fight to keep going is incredible, there is an enormous amount of trauma being carried by the survivors of the deadly Category Five storm that upended their worlds.

Families have been torn apart. Husbands ripped from wives, children from parents – one cannot imagine the devastation felt by those who miraculously made their way to safety during the storm.

Meanwhile, Hurricane Dorian’s official death toll is parked at 70, as the Ministry of Health still is trying to identify bodies. Some families have had the remains of their loved ones released to them, but with some 50 bodies waiting to be identified and around 300 people still missing, there is a long way to go.

Minister of Health Duane Sands said some individuals who do not have legal immigration status may have not yet come forward to identify their loved ones because they fear deportation.

We ought to acknowledge how much we’ve lost and make a special effort to cherish this holiday season a little bit more. However, at the same time, we must remember that getting here has, in part, been the result of successive governments ignoring what may not be politically expedient.

As Bahamians everywhere were stunned by Hurricane Dorian, we all have to accept a new normal – climate change. Although this has been an issue loosely spoken about by previous administrations, hopefully we have learned that action is a matter of national import – particularly now we are in an era climate scientists refer to as “a state of planetary emergency”. A group of scientists in the journal Nature are calling for international action as what they have dubbed as “climate tipping points” are taking place much faster than previously forecast.

One researcher wrote a very chilling call to action: “The stability and resilience of our planet is in peril. International action – not just words – must reflect this.”

The lead researcher, Professor Tim Lenton at the University of Exeter, posited that we may already be too late to prevent a cascading effect of interconnected tipping points that may result in “irreversible changes in the climate” – changes ranging from ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica melting, to the water’s warming temperatures destroying coral reefs, which have long protected the Bahamas from the dangers of storm surges.

Certainly, we have never seen anything like Hurricane Dorian before, but as the alarm is being sounded, we would be fooling ourselves to believe that this was a one-off experience.

We would be belittling the trauma suffered by our brothers and sisters and walking into what could be a repeat of the devastation if we remain unfocused and ill-prepared.

Not negating the importance of demanding our government gets it right on illegal immigration, and the rebuild and reboot of Abaco, Grand Bahama and their economies, our highest priority must be preparing for next hurricane season and how we address climate action.

The Bahamian people are very familiar with successive government’s tendency to create laws, departments and authorities for a political spectacle. However, the government’s proposed agency to focus on environmental planning and climate change is a matter of urgency.

While we understand there is little we can do to divert Mother Nature’s wrath, preparation and education of the citizenry is in our control. The Bahamian people must realise that climate change is a global issue. More importantly, we must recognise that the power of the vote leads to the changes we want to see. But we must become more informed on climate change to force our government to be accountable and do what it says it will do.

As much as Hurricane Dorian has cemented itself as a national tragedy, it may only be the tip of the melting iceberg. And as scientists continuing to grapple with an impending apocalyptic scenario, the clarion call has been made to world leaders – particularly those in countries with the highest carbon dioxide emissions – to take climate change more seriously. Perhaps, in this regard, The Bahamas’ duty is in continuing to tell our story and to consistently remind ourselves of what’s at stake.

That starts first with us – the Bahamian people.

While we enjoy the holiday season and September 1, 2019 becomes a distant memory, we ought to remember that a brother or sister living among us has first-hand experience of what may lie ahead.

Forgetting what they went through will be an immense disservice – one that we may pay for gravely in the future.