What Should happen at Your Construction Site in a Storm

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, June 12, 2023 – As the Turks and Caicos enjoys an exponential boom in new construction, the Planning Department is warning that contractors – large and small – must begin securing their unfinished properties and materials to prevent injury or loss of life this hurricane season.

“Hurricanes these days we have category fives and containers filled with cargo have been flipping,”  said Adrian Malcolm, Assistant Development Control Engineer with the Department of Planning. He was speaking at the 2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season Joint Press Conference hosted by the DDME.

The strength of these storms makes it doubly important to construction sites to secure anything that could become a projectile in hurricane force winds.

He explained that the department was responsible for the safety of the many sites across the country as the season begins.

“We go out to every construction site that is active to make sure that everything that is loose is tied down and all procedures have been followed .  We also make sure that the building parts or buildings are tied down, covered or secured during a hurricane,” he said.

Malcolm explained that if a hurricane is headed for the country, the protocol for construction sites are as follows:

• 24 or 48 hours before a hurricane comes the Planning Department will check every construction site to make sure all procedures are followed (everything is tied down, there’s no loose material).
•  All major sites are shut down at a certain time.
• All heavy machinery parked and tied down.
• All residents including managers of the development asked to leave the construction site.

He also spend regarding residential homes:

“The Turks and Caicos Building Code has been doing very well, we have survived massive hurricanes and some shortcuts were exposed including some people who were not following proper construction process.”

Despite this, houses are for the most part doing well and the department has tips available for residents to use to make their homes even more secure.  Malcolm says with these precautions in place the department is now focusing on securing commercial properties.

Contractors are encouraged to adhere with the requirements to prevent the loss of life and injury of the residents who live in the surrounding area.