It is only a matter of time before the Bahamas is devastated by a hurricane with the strength and ferocity of Katrina experts said yesterday.
With the horror and devastation that Katrina inflicted upon New Orleans, local authorities agree that a hurricane of that magnitude would have been the end of the Bahamas as we know it – with experts warning that it is a question of “when” not “if”.
Meteorologists say the Bahamas has never been accosted by any hurricane above a category four. Some officials have claimed that the Bahamas has been “blessed”, but warn that the law of averages is continuing to count against us, increasing the probability of a storm of Biblical proportions.
According to Lt. Com. Bain the Bahamas is on an upward trajectory towards the most active hurricane season within the past 100 years, warning that even more violent storms are yet to come.
Currently, the Bahamas’ building codes are among the toughest – and probably the toughest – in the region. However, they are only able to stand up to category three winds and possibly a category four storm, for any period of time.
Glenn Bannister, president of The Bahamas National Trust warned that with the current destruction of our wetlands in the southern section of New Providence, tidal surges from a category four or five storm would cause a “national catastrophe”.
Lt. Com Bain said,” In the US they have the option of going inland but in the Bahamas we can only evacuate the island. The question is where would we go? The decision is that we would have to evacuate the entire island and that is a humongous task.”
Source: The Tribune
