SUMMER 2003GEOHAZARDS COURSE AT UWI, MONA - page 129

Prepared and compiled by Rafi Ahmad, Unit for Disaster Studies,
Department of Geography and Geology,
University of the West Indies, Mona, Kingston 7, Jamaica


PERCEPTION OF THE LANDSLIDE HAZARD BY:

THE RESIDENTS

· Landslides are called "BRUKKIN".
· These are frequent in the area following rains.
· One of the residents has described the soils in the area as:

" Abou dirt - like glass plates packed on each other.
So when they are soaked, they run off.
It is lovely land to farm on, but not to build on".

OTHERS
· Although recurrent rainfall-induced landslides cause significant damage on the island, it is only the flood aspects of a particular storm that are emphasized.
· The landslide effects are largely ignored or incorrectly described as damage due to floods.
· This is because of the ambiguities and inconsistencies in the terminology used to describe the storm effects.
· This must be corrected if loss reduction is to be achieved.

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