With the 2005 Atlantic Hurricane Season projected to be a very active one, the top official of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) is assuring that The Bahamas is much better prepared than it was last year.
“I have to underscore that preparation is not an event. It is a journey so that day by day as time passes as a country we would take the necessary measures to protect ourselves,” said Carl Smith, coordinator of NEMA.
His comments came as Bahamas weather forecasts indicate that the season’s first tropical depression had formed in the Pacific.
The system was expected to strengthen to tropical storm status and there was a possibility that it could cross Central America and head toward The Bahamas within the next five days.
While the government focuses on national preparedness for the 2005 season, Mr. Smith indicated that individuals must also do their part.
“Protect the openings to your home, be it your door or the windows particularly if they are glass, using shutters or plywood if necessary,” he said. “This would ensure that the force of wind does not get into the house, forcing the roof to come off and water to come in and do damage. Securing the openings to ones home is very critical and using tapes on windows is a no, no.”
Mr. Smith also indicated that on a national level, NEMA officials have undertaken training programmes in damage assessment, strengthening communication, and disaster coordination.
It comes as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the United States projects that there is a 70 percent chance that this season would have above normal activity.
It further suggests that the Atlantic Hurricane Season will yield 12 to 15 tropical storms, of which seven to nine are expected to become hurricanes, with three to five of them developing into major hurricanes.
“The African Easterly Jet, which is favourable for tropical cyclone development is present,” said Basil Dean, chief meteorological office in the Department of Meterology. “Also, the sea surface temperatures are above normal. They are warm and is above the 28 degree threshold mark.
“The sea surface pressures in the equatorial region, the Eastern Caribbean, the Gulf of Mexico and the North Atlantic Ocean are quite ripe for tropical cyclone development.”
NOAA officials have projected that the vast majority of tropical storms and hurricanes in 2005 will develop between August and October, with many of them likely forming over the Tropical Atlantic and Caribbean Sea.
By: Perez Clarke, The Bahama Journal
