Residents are being urged to remain vigilant about all storms, whether large or small.
Chief Meteorologist at the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology, Kathy-Ann Caesar said that while the region is focusing on preparing for the large storms being predicted to form during the current Atlantic Hurricane season, more focus needs to be placed on getting ready for smaller systems that often have more dire effects on this part of the globe.
“Let’s not put our eye on just the major hurricanes. We have recorded weak storms that have actually been impacting the region even more dangerous than [larger ones]. We can go back to [Tropical Storm] Erika and we can even go back to [Tropical Storm] Philippe last year, which was one of the weakest storms existing across the Caribbean but actually caused damage from Antigua all the way to Trinidad,” she said on Monday.
“So while we want to focus on those major storms, we also have to look at the periphery storms which can impact us with heavy rainfall, floods, lightning and heat.”
The weather expert added that the extremely high temperatures were not only difficult for citizens but also created ideal circumstances for storm development.
“Already in February, we were recording June-like temperatures. We are now in June, and the warmest time of the year is in September, so we still have a ways to go. The sea surface temperatures that provide the fuel for our storms, already in May, we were already seeing very warm surface temperatures. Looking at it last week, we were already two or three degrees above the norm across different Caribbean states,” Caesar said.
“We are in a La Niña – easterly trade winds – that means we have weaker upper level winds which tends to shear away these storms. So we are actually in a favourable environment for development for these storms.”
Caesar made the comments as she addressed participants at the opening ceremony of OCHA-UNDP-CDEMA-CARICHAM Joint Workshop, ‘Building Public-Private Partnerships for Disaster Resilience in the Caribbean’, at Tamarind by Elegant Hotels. The workshop brought together disaster mitigation specialists from around the region to discuss proposals to improve disaster response in Caribbean countries.
