Caribbean disaster officials are discussing in the British Virgin islands during this week best ways to preprare for the 2005 hurricane season, which starts next week. National Disaster Coordinators are attending the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency (CDERA), the region"s main disaster preparedness agency which started its meeting on Monday, reported Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC). Delegates assess new preparedness and response tools and procedures and review the measures taken to deal with disasters in the region last year. CDERA"s coordinator Jeremy Collymore said discussions would address tough questions about the preparedness of countries, and sustainable development financing to improve risk management, with the ultimate goal being that of disaster loss reduction. Last year, the Caribbean was affected by three major tropical storms including Hurricane Ivan, which devastated Grenada and caused millions of dollars in damages to Jamaica and other regional states. Reprinted from Prensa-Latina