Meet \u201cStrappy\u201d our friendly Hurricane Strap Mascot who is here to promote hurricane preparedness through safer roofing measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Strappy was born out of the vision of the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM) along with the support from the Department for International Development (DFID) under the Tropical Storm Gustav Recovery Project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 2008 Tropical Storm Gustav made landfall in\u00a0Jamaica\u00a0and leftover 1,500 houses in the Eastern region with severely damaged roofs. It was noted that most of the households which suffered damage were using poor materials, incorrect fasteners, and inadequate maintenance.\u00a0\u00a0This type of damage is consistent with informal buildings of self-help patterns found in low-income communities throughout the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One Thousand One Hundred and Three (1,103) residents from\u00a0Portland,\u00a0St. Thomas, St. Mary,\u00a0Kingston, and St. Andrew and St. Catherine have had their roofs made hurricane-proof by the Tropical Storm Gustav Recovery Project, having suffered from the Tropical Storm in 2008.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This year the ODPEM plans to teach more persons how to make their house more resistant to wind damage by using the Hurricane Strap. The hurricane strap has been proven and tested to be one of the easiest and simplest methods to use for hurricane proofing roofs. This can be done by correctly placing one or more on at every rafter of the roof and connecting it to the wall plate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the\u00a02010 Atlantic Hurricane Season approaches the ODPEM will be highlighting Hurricane Preparedness Month in May 2010 and\u00a0will be embarking on a series of activities\u00a0with an aim to increase public awareness to minimize potential risks this hazard may cause. Strappy the Hurricane Strap Mascot is here\u00a0to remind Jamaicans of the significance of hurricane preparedness measures and is encouraging the public to\u00a0\u201cStrap Dem Down!\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1157,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"give_campaign_id":0,"_angie_page":false},"odpem_news":[],"class_list":["post-1156","odpem_in_the_media","type-odpem_in_the_media","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.odpem.gov.jm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/odpem_in_the_media\/1156","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.odpem.gov.jm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/odpem_in_the_media"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.odpem.gov.jm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/odpem_in_the_media"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.odpem.gov.jm\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1157"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.odpem.gov.jm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"odpem_news","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.odpem.gov.jm\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fodpem_news&post=1156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}