The Government of the British Virgin Islands (BVI) says plans are being made to review and upgrade the territory’s building codes following the devastating impact of Hurricane Irma.
“This hurricane that hit us is the scale we have never seen before, it was a Category 5, and it was really devastating,” said BVI Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. Orlando Smith, during a Town Hall meeting earlier this week.
“Interestingly, just before that, we had intense flooding, again, such as we never had before in the BVI. Times have changed, and global warming is definitely affecting us; and we now have to look at where we are as a country and make the adjustments to suit the times in which we live.”
“We have to take lessons from what has happened, certainly with Irma and review our building codes,” he said, adding that “We have lost and received damage to about 70 per cent of our buildings, and that now gives us an opportunity to build smarter and stronger.”
The premier said just a few months ago, he had received a copy of the first draft of the new building code, because he had some concerns about the way buildings were being constructed.
In sharing similar sentiments, Junior Minister for Tourism, Archibald Christian said Category 5 hurricanes seem to be the new norm, adding, that the territory now needs to build to withstand Category 5-plus hurricanes.
