Climate Changed
The Quest to Hurricane-Proof an Island
Dominica, ravaged by the storms of 2017, is not taking the next ones lying down.
Eight months ago, Category 5 Hurricane Maria destroyed Dominica resident Simon Walsh’s roof and most of his walls. It also took a big bite out of his scuba-guide business. “I had no future to see,” he says. “We should never again be as desperate as we were on Sept. 18.”
The island, where Walsh has lived for two decades, was among the hardest-hit. Nine out of 10 buildings lost a roof. The World Bank estimated the total damage at $1.3 billion, or 224 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.