EDITORIAL: 2020 Hurricane Season is here

HERE we are June 1, 2020.

The official start of the 2020 Atlantic Hurricane season and with
projections of an above average or active season, Barbadians have been
urged to take precautions and start making plans for the potential
impact of tropical systems.

The days of chanting ‘God is a Bajan’ are over. We have been lucky for
several years, since the devastation caused by Hurricane Janet in the
1950s, but the cyclical nature of impacts have determined that this
luck cannot last forever.

Major threat

Sadly, the signs have been there for a long time. We have had the
signs of a changing trajectory of these systems for years. The usual
formation of systems directly east or slightly south of our
positioning has been replaced with systems emerging stronger than
normal from the West Coast of Africa, before rapidly developing south
of 12 degrees north, riding south of the Northeast Trade Winds into
the vulnerable southern Caribbean.

That means that systems start to move west-northwestward closer to
Barbados and this presents a major threat. The potential for major
damage is greater as the more vulnerable commercial centres of
Bridgetown, Oistins and Warrens could face the brunt of the centres of
these systems if they move up the spine of this country.

Flooding issues

Can this island’s infrastructure recover quickly from a brush with a
strong tropical storm? Most times, these systems pass the island
during an intensifying stage, which protects the island from the most
intense winds, but given the challenging terrain which parts of the
island face, issues can be magnified.

The island, even in a drought, is vulnerable to intense rains, which
will cause serious flooding. Major population centres can been
isolated if intense rains continue for any prolonged period. The rains
associated with Tropical Storm Harvey caused serious flooding in the
north of the island, while Hurricane Matthew drenched the island over
one day and resulted in flooding issues.

Ramp up preparations

The problem is that much of that valuable water is left to run into
the sea and we continue not to be able to trap it for use on land.
Given the serious prolonged drought which we have been experiencing
for almost five years, we have to find ways of maximizing what nature
provides to us in terms of rainfall and with pronounced drier spells
in December and January to June, we have to find a more sustainable
way to replenish our water supplies.

That being said, the time is now and our preparations must be ramped
up as the season has already showed an ominous start with Tropical
Storm Arthur forming off the coast of Florida, before quickly moving
out to sea. Where this storm formed is notable, but now the focus is
east.

It is time to get prepared.