WASHINGTON (Reuters)<\m>The World Bank has launched the first multinational disaster insurance plan that will give Caribbean countries — and Bermuda — immediate cash after hurricanes or earthquakes. A donor conference in Washington on Monday raised $47 million in reserve funds for the new Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, it was revealed yesterday.

The move comes as scientists warn that storms are likely to intensify in strength due to climate change attributed to global warming.

Caribbean countries have long complained that it takes months before emergency aid arrives after a catastrophe.

“We cannot stop the force of nature, but when disaster hits we can at least help shorten the time it takes countries, communities and families to start rebuilding their lives again,” World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz told donors.

“That is money well spent because the faster countries recover the less the economic losses will be,” he added.

Some 18 countries from the Caribbean Community and Common Market have already signed up for the scheme, including Bermuda, Grenada, Jamaica, Dominica, the Bahamas, Belize, Montserrat, St. Lucia, Haiti, Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Barbados, Antigua and Barbuda, Trinidad and Tobago, St. Kitts and Anguilla.

Premier Ewart Brown attended the conference, but was not available for comment yesterday.

The World Bank, which designed the scheme, estimated that since 1979 hurricanes have caused more than $16 billion in losses in Caribbean nations, while major storms can be expected to strike once every two and a half years.

Participating countries will pay a non-refundable fee to join the scheme, followed by an annual premium based on individual risk exposure. By pooling their risk into a single, more diversified portfolio, the World Bank estimates that individual premiums will be reduced by 40.

Mr. Wolfowitz announced the bank would make available $27 million in credits to Caribbean nations for premium payments and an additional $10 million grant for a reserve fund. “The facility represents an important shift from reacting to disaster after the fact to a more proactive approach to disaster management mitigation,” Mr. Wolfowitz said.

“But insurance is one part of answer,” he said. “We must continue to strengthen institutional preparedness and also need to prepare infrastructure to better withstand effects of major natural disasters.”

Grenada’s ambassador to the United States, Denis Antoine, said the island was still rebuilding after Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which crippled the economy and its mainstay nutmeg industry.

He said the scheme provided Caribbean governments with access to catastrophe risk insurance that would otherwise not be available to them.

“The fact that 18 countries have agreed to participate speaks volumes about the necessity for this facility,” Mr. Antoine said.

He urged donors to extend the plans’ coverage from hurricanes and earthquakes to flooding, cautioning that the region would still require additional aid beyond the immediate response.