Lessons from Extreme Climate Events: Learning to improve preparation, response and recovery from hurricanes

The USDA Caribbean Climate Hub has been engaged in efforts to assess the effects of the 2017 hurricanes Irma and Maria using social, ecological, and geospatial information to improve understanding of the effects of hurricanes on agriculture, forestry, and rural communities and the effectiveness of resilience and response measures. Over 200 advisors to forestry and agriculture from nine institutions in Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands provided perspectives on what the greatest impacts were to their stakeholders, what strategies exist for preparedness and recovery from, and how prevalent was the implementation of these strategies. Additionally, we conducted 26 focus groups and individual interviews from a number of sectors. The US Caribbean was significantly affected by the hurricanes, with widespread defoliation, downed and damaged trees, and landslides cited as the most significant direct effects across public and private lands. Greenness loss estimated from satellite imagery showed 31% loss for the region, with 51% lost from the Luquillo Experimental Forest (LEF). Agriculture and forest advisors indicate that fallen trees and impassable roads rank just under loss of power and communication as the most devastating effects of the hurricanes. These effects were associated with damages to infrastructure, utilities, access, and other key assets as well as effects on physical, emotional, and economic health and well-being. Response and longer-term recovery of private forests has mostly come through efforts by private individuals, local community networks, and civil society organizations. Planning and preparation for the storms was very limited, but cited by the large majority of public and private forest owners and managers as essential for mitigating against damages. Longer-term mitigation practices and strategies for forests also were rare, except for the stabilization of forest roads and drainage in some forests, which, where implemented, were mostly effective in mitigating storm damages.