Should a Category Four hurricane ever hit Bermuda, the Island would quickly find itself unable to cope with resulting damages on its own. That was the message which clearly emerged from a UN exercise held in Bermuda last week.

Among the most crucial problems Bermuda would face would be an overflowing morgue completely incapable of handling mass deaths, an underwater airport and the loss of port facilities hampering the movement of both people and supplies. The causeway might be impassable.

A burst fuel pipeline would cause both environmental damage and loss of power across the Island. And any ships travelling near Bermuda at the time of the hurricane would undoubtedly cause additional problems to the Island.

For roughly 24 hours last week -- although many people in Bermuda knew nothing about it -- Bermuda took a direct blast from `Willis', a Category Four hurricane. Willis was the heart of a simulation exercise run by the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Co-ordination office. (UNDAC) The exercise was the central element of an induction course ran in Bermuda over the last couple of weeks as it assembled its first Caribbean region (including Bermuda) disaster response team.

Twenty-six disaster response specialists from ten countries -- including Bermudians Capt. William White and Dr. Roslyn Bascome-Adams -- were gathered and called upon to assess, and develop a plan to deal with, the devastation from Willis.

It would be devastating if a hurricane of that force hit Bermuda. One of the members of Bermuda's Emergency Measures Organisation, Marine & Ports director Ron Ross, told The Royal Gazette that while the EMO runs exercises and has a disaster plan worked out, "we've always known that if we were hit by one that big we'd need outside help''.

Running the simulation exercise in Bermuda then allowed UNDAC's Caribbean team to learn about one another and working together while simultaneously allowing the EMO -- which includes the Governor's Office, Works & Engineering, Regiment, Police, Fire Service, Airport Operations, Marine & Ports and RCC Bermuda Harbour Radio -- to take stock of what might be the effects of a real Willis blasting the Island.

A Royal Gazette reporter followed members of the UNDAC team from the start to completion of their exercise and in the process received an indication of what Bermuda might look like after a category four hurricane hit.

What the UN team found through rapid deployment to Island areas outlined in the simulation scenario is that local infrastructure would be severely hampered by an event such as Willis.

Visitors would be stranded and frightened at various parts of the Island. Most roads would be impassable and portable medical stations would need to be set up at various points to deal with injuries. The situation scenario suggested as many as 10,000 injuries might be associated with a Category Four hurricane.

Marine Police boats would be severely damaged and communications capacity would be down to a single marine radio system.

From the UN team, Sgt. Mark Botelho, said the Marine Police would need boats and RIBs (rubber inflatable boats) to check on people living on the smaller islands and tarpaulins to cover roofs on damaged houses. Portable generators would also be needed.

The Port of Hamilton would be knocked out should a hurricane of such force hit the Island. Both cranes at the dock would be out, UNDAC members heard as they met with Marine & Ports officials, and the 100 or so containers that are on the dock at any given time would be in the water, blocking access.

If ever catastrophe should strike Essentially, the Island would have no active cargo area to unload any supplies brought in to deal with the effects of the hurricane. St. George's and Dockyard could be called into use but not if they were damaged as well.

The team also learned that, should a ship -- such as the fictitious MV Rust Bucket -- run aground in the Narrows, recovering it would cost about $10 million.

Marine & Ports would probably lose half of its 16 tugs, ferries and boats to damages, said Mr. Ross. And he estimated it would take two weeks to open the ports again. The ports are not insured and it was estimated it would take $16.5 million to get them back up and running.

In total, Mr. Ross estimated that the overall effect on Bermuda's economy could be in the hundreds of millions.

For the purpose of the Willis exercise, the KEMH basement was flooded with three feet of water, a portion of the roof over the administration area was damaged and a refrigeration area of medical supplies was damaged and would require $5,000 and technical assistance to repair. Half of KEMH's supplies might be lost.

Depending on the casualty numbers, the Hospital would need additional supplies of antibiotics, pain killers, IVs and blood. Team members were told that while the blood supply at KEMH is limited -- especially since new blood donation restrictions were put in place to protect the Island from Mad Cow Disease -- in the event of an emergency, both the Fire and Police Services have agreed to donate blood.

Morgue capacity would probably be the Island's biggest problem -- Bermuda simply doesn't have it. Handling mass deaths is always a problem, the UNDAC team learned. To supplement available morgue capacity, the Island would need to use refrigerated containers such as those carried aboard the Oleander -- which is frowned upon internationally.

The 150 confirmed deaths in the scenario as a result of Willis would completely overwhelm the morgue.

A Category Four hurricane hitting the eastern end of the Island would generate four-metre storm surge and damage roughly 500 buildings. The airport would be underwater and the causeway would be knocked out.

The Clearwater Fire Station at Southside would be wiped out. Radios would be down, there would be no electricity and the vehicles would have been moved to higher ground. The station would probably require roof repair as well.

Fire Service employees would also be called upon to do much of the emergency medical response in the East End. With the causeway knocked out boats would be required to transport fire service crews and barges for repair equipment. The airport fire service would assist but their first priority would be getting the airport runways up and running.

The Island would be lucky to escape without structural damage to the airport tower. Without it planes would only land with the use of visual information. A generator would be needed to get the navigational aids and airport lights working.

In addition to the problems with the MV Rust Bucket , the scenario threw in another possible environmental hazard. Contact is lost with the Pintail , a fictious British vessel carrying nuclear waste in the area during Willis. When contact is reestablished, the ship is structurally sound but disabled and will require international assistance to repair.

The burst Belco pipeline would mean 10,000 gallons of fuel per hour would be leaking out into Island waters. The Island can only deal with 100-tonne spills on its own.

In such an event, UNDAC would send an urgent request for environmental clean-up experts. And fixing the pipeline would require the use of specialised divers.

The loss of fuel at that rate would mean that the Island would lose electricity within seven hours. And food stocks would run out very quickly if no additional supplies could be brought to the Island.

This scenario is just an inkling of what a state of emergency might look like for Bermuda.

EMO Emergency Measures Organisation