Commonwealth SG urges preparation for upcoming hurricane season

DPI, GUYANA, Wednesday, May 9, 2018

Commonwealth Secretary-General, Rt. Hon. Patricia Scotland said she is currently in talks with leaders of a number of CARICOM countries to determine their preparedness for the upcoming hurricane season.

According to the Commonwealth SG, reports from Climatologists suggest that this year’s season may be as “challenging as last year, or worse.”

“It is with much trepidation that we watch a repeat of what is happening now in the region,” the SG told Journalists during a press conference at the NCN studio last Friday.

She said Heads of Government need to have a plan in place to “respond and rebuild better.”

According to reports, the hurricane season in the Caribbean officially runs from June 1 to November 30. The Caribbean and the Atlantic region generally experience few or no storms during the first two months of the season. However, data shows that the latter portion of the season is regarded as the most active. The most active months are September and October.

The SG said reports of freak storms over in Jamaica and a few other Commonwealth countries recently is “regrettably an echo of what started last year.”

Last September, two Category 5 Hurricanes Irma and Maria hit the region during a two-week period in decimating decades of development gains in Dominica, Barbuda – the sister island of Antigua, the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and Anguilla. The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis and Haiti also suffered damage. Other Caribbean Islands, notably St. Maarten, Cuba, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic were also significantly impacted.

 

By: Alexis Rodney