The Meteorological Service of Canada Helps Rebuild the Haiti Weather Service
Since its inception in 1871, the Meteorological Service of Canada (MSC) has provided Canadians with timely and accurate weather information, forecasts and warnings. To this day, the MSC has continued to be committed to warning Canadians of impending hydro-meteorological hazards and to sustain and improve weather information and services for informed socio-economic decisions both in Canada and abroad.
The increasing impacts of weather and climate are growing concerns for communities everywhere. Resilience to extreme weather, water and climate underpin sustainable development. The MSC, in collaboration with other members of the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), has often contributed to efforts to rebuilt or modernize international weather and hydrological services, whenever the need arises.
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Inauguration of the new building dedicated to the Meteorological and Hydrological Services of Haiti (UHM). This infrastructure, operational since May 26, 2017, was built to be earthquake-resistant and energy-efficient. The MSC, in collaboration with the WMO, has allocated several million dollars for the construction of this facility.
One remarkable example is the support to rebuild the Haiti weather services following the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010. Canada's response to the call for help was immediate. Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC) secured $6.5 million for rebuilding the Haiti Met services, in particular for a new earthquake-resistant building. ECCC also donated equipment, but more importantly, MSC provided hands-on expertise and leadership in establishing an international team to ensure the sustained and very concrete rebuilding of Haitian weather services.
Under the vision of Mr. David Grimes, then Assistant Deputy Minister for the MSC, combined with the leadership of Mr. Abdoulaye Harou, then Director of Aviation and Defence Services, the MSC was central to the design, co-ordination and implementation of this project.
“The MSC should be proud of its response both from human and equipment perspectives,” said Mr. Harou. He knew immediately that this would become a very challenging and passionate project. It was clear to him that reliable meteorological services would be essential to Haiti's recovery, and by helping to build resilience to further weather and climate-related disasters, it would be possible for Haiti, and Haitians, to recover sustainably. He noted that the immediate action needed was to put in place a system that will provide weather information and warnings to Haitians during the upcoming hurricane season to begin in less than six months from the date of the earthquake.
It was obvious that extra help outside of the MSC would be needed. “We needed to look outside the box and to lean on our friends with the WMO”, said Mr. Harou. He engaged, co-ordinated and assembled a team of MSC Meteorologists and experts from WMO, Météo-France, Dominican Republic, Cuba and USA and then set out to seek donations from the industrial sector to secure office containers to house temporarily the Haitien forecasters—thanks to the “Mouvement des Entreprises de France (MEDEF) in Martinique. By May 2010, just before the hurricane season, a "visiting forecaster" program to Martinique was put in place to provide expertise and 24/7 assistance to the forecasting staff in Haiti (Port-au-Prince). This approach was taken due to the lack of adequate resources and infrastructure in Haiti to accommodate the visiting forecasters. Thanks to Meteo-France for facilitating this approach. A roster of five French-speaking forecasters from the MSC and one from the UK Met Office, working on a monthly rotation, together with Météo-France forecasters in Martinique, provided weather forecasting support to Haiti.
In June 2010, just five months after the devastating earthquake, the MSC, in conjunction with Météo-France, launched the weather service website, to provide basic weather and forecast information to Haitians. The website won a distinction prize for innovation at a GTEC (Canada Public Sector Technology Event). “We innovated by hosting the website at the Canadian Meteorological Centre (CMC) and by posting the logo of MDEF to thank them for the containers and of Digicel, a cell phone company, in exchange for an Internet connection at the Haiti Meteorological Services,” said Mr. Harou. “We were also successful in getting Vaissala to offer their global lightning data on the website, at least for 2010”. Quickly thereafter, the US National Hurricane Centre, in Miami, came to aid by providing critical information during the hurricane season through the visiting forecasters in Martinique, Mr. Harou continued to collect surplus computer hardware, software and printing papers, and coordinated transportation to Haiti via the Canadian Armed Forces engaged in relief activities. Mr. Harou’s connection and ties to the Haitian people remain strong to this day. He cited “humour, modesty, patience and trust” as important personal attributes that helped him succeed in this initiative.
The $6.5 million secured by ECCC generated a five-year project, called the “Haiti Weather Systems Programme: Climate Services to Reduce Vulnerability in Haiti”. This project, implemented by WMO, included the modernization of equipment and the construction of an energy-efficient and earthquake-resistant building to house the Meteorological and Hydrological Services of Haiti. The inauguration of the new building took place on May 26, 2017 with The Ambassador of Canada, Paula Caldwell and The Secretary General of WMO, Professor Peterri Taalas cutting the ribbon.
The investment of ECCC/MSC planted the seed for new investment (US $1.5 M), launched in January 2021, by the Climate Risk and Early Warning System (CREWS) funds for a project for sustainable operability and the implementation of Early Warning System (EWS).