Lessons to be learnt

There are many lessons to be learnt from the passage of Hurricane Elsa, which first visited Barbados as a Tropical Storm yesterday and then increased to the strength of a Category 1 hurricane.

Acting Director of the Barbados Meteorological Services (BMS), Sabu Best, made the observation as he discussed the fluid nature of impending weather systems in general and the need for Barbadians to do their best to be always prepared, as he gave one of his many updates about the system yesterday.

“I think the public listened to the messages that we were putting out there and they got to see how it was changing. So that is a plus. There are always areas to improve, but we learnt a lot of lessons from Elsa. She taught us a lot of lessons and we have learnt from her too,” Sabu acknowledged.

As Barbadians hunkered down to brace for the passage of the weather system yesterday morning, Best kept them up to date on all the changes in relation to the system. A Tropical Storm Warning was first issued from Thursday July 1. Such a warning is given when sustained winds of 39 to 73 miles per hour associated with a tropical storm are forecast to affect Barbados within 36 hours. With predictions being made that Tropical Storm Elsa would pass to the south of Barbados in the early morning hours of Friday July 2, an update later indicated that the storm would pass some time after 7 a.m.

As Sabu updated the country as the storm passed with gusty winds and heavy rainfall, he stressed that the southern part of the island was under a severe pounding from the storm, which at the time was a few gusts short of a hurricane.

“It is dangerous out there. Do not even dare to look through your window! Objects could be flying out there,” the BMS Director cautioned over the airwaves from his station in Charnocks, Christ Church, as he watched the intensity of the system increase.

His predictions were that based on what he was seeing, Barbadians could expect a lot of damage from Elsa, which reached hurricane status swiftly, causing the BMS to upgrade its Tropical Storm Warning to that of a Hurricane Warning. However, that warning was soon downgraded back to a Tropical Storm status again. Meanwhile, a Flash-flood Warning remained in effect.

By the time these warnings were discontinued by the Met Office yesterday evening and the all-clear was given from disaster management officials, there was a general consensus that not only had Hurricane Elsa taught Barbadians a valuable lesson about hurricane preparedness, but they also received a valuable lesson about the unpredictability of these weather systems brought on by Mother Nature. They were also reminded of the need to heed the advice of key officials which was given at the start of the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season, to “expect the unexpected”, “brace for any eventuality” and do away with complacency. (RSM)