**Debra D. Joseph**

**Abstract:** Hurricane Maria made landfall on the southwest coast of Dominica on the 18th September 2017 as a category 5 hurricane with up to 160 mph wind speed. This left 31 people dead and 37 missing. Around 65,000, or approximately 80% of the population, were directly affected and more than 90% of roofs were damaged or destroyed. Power and water supplies were disrupted and entire crops destroyed. With an estimate of USD 930.9 million damages, most were sustained in the housing sector (38%), followed by transport (20%) and education (8%). Four months after the hurricane, Dominica was severely affected. Around 450 people resided in collective shelters. Over 80% of houses still had inadequate roofing. This research examined the psychosocial issues that faced the Dominican population of female-headed households after Hurricane Maria. It also examined the current physical state of homes of these women as they struggled to find some form of normalcy in living. Its focus will support community resilience, one of the four priority areas of the Regional Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy. The results can hopefully motivate people and/or organisations to become more involved in comprehensive disaster management and have long term changes which can have positive national, regional and international implications for strengthening disaster resilience. Pre-existing, structural gender inequalities mean that disasters affect women and girls in different ways than they affect boys and men. The vulnerability of females increases when they are in a lower socioeconomic group, particularly in the Global South. This vulnerability impacts preparedness, evacuation, response, number of deaths and recovery. The reasons for this vulnerability can often be traced to the roles females hold in society and existing gender and cultural norms where they live. Research in this area can help the understanding of women and how they cope in such disasters. The aims were: to examine the living conditions of persons immediately after Hurricane Maria and four years later; to find out what issues are impacting their quality of life; and to expose the gaps in their current needs. The chapter examines the issues faced by female-headed households, with respect to the aims, methodology, methods, major findings and implications. Major findings showed that not much changed post-Hurricane Maria and four years later. The COVID-19 pandemic created more challenges and hampered infrastructure and other progress due to the Hurricane.

#### **1. Introduction**

McKinnon and Alston (2016) posit that social workers now view the physical environment as a means by which social inequalities present in an environmental crisis. There has been an increase and re-evaluation of the physical environment by social workers over the past decade. This provides the basis for intense scrutiny of environmental policies, social inequalities and economic frameworks that form the source for engagement with the Earth and its inhabitants. In general, social work practice takes part in the micro, mezzo and macro spheres. In the micro sphere, social work works with individuals via case management and examines the issues that may impact on that person with respect to environmental policies, social inequalities and economic challenges. In the mezzo sphere, social work addresses challenges in said area with families and groups, and in the macro sphere social work looks at these areas mentioned in relation to communities and society. The practice of social work is all-encompassing through all three spheres put together.

The environment is relevant in all three categories and embraces casework with case management (micro sphere), group work and work with the family (mezzo sphere) and community work (macro sphere). Social policy is critical with respect to environmental concerns, as it leads to relevant programmes and practices in all three spheres. Social work education is the main thread that connects all three spheres as based on evidence-based practice and theories, both support interventions in all three spheres. In all these categories, it behoves social work to recognize relevant environmental issues and to advocate for environmental awareness and improvements. The importance of social justice emerges. The aspects of human rights, child's rights and recognition of the United Nations Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs) form part of the tapestry for intervention at the three levels of social work practice concerning the environment. Any pedagogical approach in the eco-social work paradigm must promote the eco-social lens and critically examine the anthropocentric lens (Rinkel and Mataira 2018).

Tropical cyclones frequent the Caribbean during the months of June to November. All records show that changes in tropical cyclone frequency and magnitude due to climate change have significant implications on the vulnerabilities of Caribbean populations. According to the UNDRR (2023), for the past ten years, disasters have caused a heavy toll on communities and the well-being and safety of countless individuals, with current focus on islands in the Caribbean. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC 2021), Tropical Cyclone intensification rates on a global scale have increased in the past 40 years. These intense hurricanes include categories 4 and 5, which have destroyed buildings and infrastructure and threatened human lives in the Caribbean.

According to Dulal et al. (2009), climate change is a social equity issue because the poor and disadvantaged are the persons vulnerable to most of the impacts. They add that climate change may impact socio-economic systems, but not all communities will be affected in the same way or degree. Policies must promote fairness, justice

and equity with respect to social policies. All societal groups must benefit from climate adaptation policies and equity must account for the main overlapping and vulnerable groups, such as the poor, the indigenous, women and children.

In this research, women, particularly female-headed households, were the main individuals used because of their vulnerability in climate change crises. Dulal et al. state that from a psychosocial point of view, climate change can exacerbate social disruption and undermine social sustainability for different groups in differing ways.

Dominica is the most northerly island of the Windward Islands. The country is located at 15◦ 250 North latitude by 61◦ 210 West longitude, north of Martinique with an approximate population of 77,629 (est. 2022) (CIA 2022). It is a mountainous volcanic island with steep terrain. Most of Dominica's centre is dominated by steeply dissected terrain. Consequently, much of the population, 90%, is in settlements along the coastal areas of the island (The World Bank 2012a). This island experiences some of the highest annual rainfall amounts in the region. In August 2015, Dominica experienced severe damage due to Tropical Storm Erika. High winds and heavy rains caused flooding and landslides, destroying buildings and killing more than two dozen people. Several communities were devastated (Encyclopaedia Britannica 2015; Rock et al. 2018). Since 1950, this island has been exposed to thirteen named tropical storm systems passing within 40 km of the island, and since 1979, the island inhabitants have been impacted by fifteen tropical systems, including eleven hurricanes (The World Bank 2012a). The latest was Hurricane Maria, a category five hurricane, in September 2017.

#### **2. Background Literature**

Drolet et al. (2016) state that countries and communities that are unprepared for natural disasters and are unaware of the risks have reduced capacities and suffer the impact of disasters more severely (UNDP 2014). They add that social development forms the basis of the principles of social justice, respect and integrity of people and working for vulnerable populations, like the values of social work. What is needed is a more focused look at integrating environmental concerns with sustainable development from a social work perspective and the integration of the same in the curriculum for social work programmes. Rock et al. (2018) asserts that social workers in the Caribbean can incorporate Green Social Work (GSW) practices in their interventions to help people and communities function better in their living spaces pre- and post-disaster and plan accordingly. Dominelli (2012) agrees and further states that social workers should focus on the interplay between residents' lives and the natural environments.

Hurricane Maria impacted Dominica as an extremely strong hurricane with speeds of up to 155 mph (CEDEMA 2017). This hurricane resulted in intense storm surges, torrential downpours, raging rivers and extremely high winds that left a lot of devastation in its wake, with 90% of roofs being damaged or destroyed. There was about USD 930.9 million in damages, and most were sustained in the housing

sector. Overall damages and losses were estimated to be around USD 1.3 billion (Assessment Capacities Project (ACP 2018); PDNA 2017).
