Camana Bay, Grand Cayman (Thursday 25 April 2013): With June 1 just a month away, the Dart group is readying its properties, staff and tenants for the upcoming hurricane season. Overseeing the preparations is Senior Security Manager Derek Haines, who along with Barry Dougall, Security Manager at Active Capital Ltd., a Dart subsidiary, recently attended the 2013 National Hurricane Conference in New Orleans.

Attended by thousands of industry experts from around the United States and the tropical islands of the Caribbean and Pacific, the primary goal of the National Hurricane Conference is to improve hurricane preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation in order to save lives. The conference also serves as a forum for federal, state and local officials to exchange ideas and recommend new policies to improve emergency management.

Mr. Haines was the only scheduled speaker from a private Caribbean company to present at the conference. He discussed Dart’s hurricane preparedness strategies, response procedures and refuge facilities and was very pleased with the positive feedback. “I spoke to a large group of attendees from all over the world and the presentation sparked a lot of interest,” says Mr. Haines. “I received many positive comments about our programme, particularly our state of the art emergency refuge, which is registered with the Cayman Islands Government and Red Cross as a last resort shelter for the general public.”

Mr. Haines has led Dart’s robust hurricane management programme since 2006 and says that the company aspires for its developments to be the benchmark against which all other Cayman Islands structures are measured. All Dart developments are hurricane-rated to Miami-Dade standards and built at a minimum of 7.5 feet above sea level. Camana Bay’s multi-storey parking garages double as refuges for both people and their vehicles above flood and surge levels. Hurricane screens are used to seal the Forum Lane garage, which can shelter up to 4,000 people, and the refuge is equipped with temporary bathrooms, emergency supplies and a first aid post.  The Solaris Avenue garage is able to accommodate 1,800 vehicles and members of the public can purchase a space for the entire hurricane season at a nominal fee. Office tenants at Camana Bay also enjoy the security of a sophisticated Data Centre, designed to provide optimal business continuity through redundancy of critical IT systems and generator backup. In addition to these key preparedness features, Mr. Haines has implemented a comprehensive hurricane response schedule with detailed procedures that begin 96 hours before impact and follow through with post-event recovery.

“The ultimate goal is always to minimize damage and save lives, and our hurricane management programme is designed to do just that,” says Mr. Haines. “The conference reassured us that we are on the right track and I hope that by sharing our knowledge other organizations are inspired to enhance their efforts.”