Our Saturday edition delivered a news item with the headline ‘Westmoreland not ready for hurricane season, says Sav mayor’.

No doubt an honest statement from the first citizen of Savanna-la-Mar, Mr Danree Delancy, but more than that, it ought to be a call to action.

“The reality is that Westmoreland is far from ready,” Mayor Delancy told the Jamaica Observer after last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation.

The story lists among the challenges that “only 22 of the parish’s 76 designated emergency shelters so far are approved for use, insufficient shelter managers, concerns about inadequate funding for drain cleaning, and many victims of Hurricane Melissa still struggling”.

No one has forgotten that Category 5 Hurricane Melissa made its way across Jamaica’s north-western parishes just over seven months ago. The effects are still very visible. The question, however, must be whether enough has been done in preparation for the June 1 start of the Atlantic hurricane season.

Like Christmas, it is not a moving target. It comes around the same time every year. This occasion, however, the preparation effort would have required more than driving two more nails and purchasing a large tarpaulin.

Hurricane Melissa unearthed many vulnerabilities and, no doubt, the mission must seem harder than ever. But prepare we must. The task ought to have been owned by every single resident. And so, they too must self-evaluate.

But rather than consider this defeatist, the mayor did not wash his hands, like Pontius Pilate; he brought recommendations.

He said a “proposal has been made for the construction of multi-purpose facilities that could serve as emergency shelters while also functioning as permanent storage sites for essential supplies such as bedding, food, medical equipment and other relief items”. This approach, the mayor explained, would eliminate the need to move emergency supplies from shelter to shelter during storms. This is just one of many proposals. What then is the hold-up? Is Westmoreland awaiting funding from central Government in Kingston? Is it that the actions are stalled by the political National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA) Bill theatre in Parliament? If so, Nero fiddles while Rome burns?

And, what of the other 12 municipal corporations? What is their state of readiness?

Surely, preparation across the island has taken on new fervour and more informed measures. Half-baked draining cleaning and tree pruning must now only be the start.

Despite the challenges, the mayor called on residents to be proactive in ensuring their own level of preparedness. He urged households to begin stocking up on essential supplies, including food, water and medication, enough for at least three days after a disaster.

“It is dangerous to be sending volunteers out into the middle of a storm to provide supplies. Residents must do what they can from now to prepare themselves,” said the mayor.

He also appealed to the residents to look out for vulnerable neighbours and community members.

This advice should be taken by residents in all parish, even if in varying degrees. Personal responsibility does not wane, even in the face of billions in donations after a disaster.

If a complete assessment is yet to be done elsewhere, Mayor Delancy’s honest declaration must now stir up the urgency to get things done.

Failing that, we plan to be caught flat-footed.