KINGSTON (Reuters) — Jamaica will use drones donated by Canada to boost its disaster response services, state information service JIS said on Tuesday.
The Caribbean in general is bracing for stronger hurricanes in the coming years fueled by warmer oceans resulting from climate change.
Why it’s important
U.S. government forecasters predict an “above-normal” 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, with storms fueled by warmer ocean temperatures and whose development could be boosted by softer westerly winds.
Despite their small greenhouse gas emissions, small island states are particularly vulnerable to effects of climate change. The Caribbean lies in a region where tropical waves that develop off the West African coast can strengthen into powerful storms.
Key quote
Jamaica’s Geographic Information System (GIS) project manager, Okieno Samuels, said in a statement the drones would play a critical role by doing post-disaster risk assessments instead of relying on people who could be placed in dangerous situations.
“We could have an automated response to (disasters); instead of having a person physically go or putting themselves at risk, we could have the drone do a flyover,” he said. Samuels said his office was also training an artificial intelligence model to assess building damages.
The statement did not say how many drones were being donated by Canada.
By REUTERS
