Above: Grenada’s former Parliament building was destroyed in 2004 by Hurricane Ivan

By the Caribbean Journal staff

Hurricane Ivan was eight years ago, but its memory is still strong in Grenada, where it caused more than $600 million in damage — and Prime Minister Tillman Thomas is calling on the country not to become “complacent.”

“We live in a region that is prone to storms and other natural disasters,” he said Friday. “We must therefore maintain a level of preparedness that will reduce our losses and help us to recover faster, should a storm system affect our country.”

With continuously-changing climatic conditions due to global warming — an issue on which Grenada has been at the forefront in the global arena — storms will cause greater damage and mean higher repair and replacement costs, he said.

“We must ensure that whatever must be done to help us to mitigate the effects of a natural disaster is done,” he said. “It is crucial that we mobilize and engage people in the community to help in the recovery process.”

Thomas said the government has moved to strengthen Grenada’s National Disaster Management Agency, and has called for greater public participation in the agency’s activities.

Ivan struck Grenada on Sept. 7, 2004.