Death and destruction in first storm of season – Federation urged to be prepared

By Ryan Haas
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS-THE first named storm of the 2008 hurricane season, Tropical storm Arthur struck Belize earlier this week, causing flooding that claimed at least seven lives, left persons missing and caused millions of dollars of infrastructural damage to the Central American country.

The 2008 Atlantic hurricane season officially began on Sunday June 1st and meteorologists have forecasted an increase in storm systems to hit the region this year, predicting that more tropical activities would develop into major hurricanes.

With Belize’s Prime Minister, Hon. Dean Barrow declaring the Southern part of Belize “a national disaster”, the message of preparedness could not be any clearer.

Belize’s Acting Chief Meteorologist, Ramon Frutos, stated “Arthur was a very strange thing” and it “could not have [been] anticipated.”

"Imagine a storm developing right over your area…There are no forecasters, no hurricane centres throughout the world that can forecast what was going to happen in a situation like this because it just blew up in our face," Frutos said. ~~Adz:Right~~

Forming one day prior to the official start of the 2008 Atlantic Hurricane Season, Arthur made landfall near the Mexico-Belize border with wind speeds reaching around 40mph. It was the storms torrential rains however, that caused a majority of the damage.

“A number of houses were destroyed, damaged or submerged and many of the country's crops have also been destroyed by the flooding,” one media report stated.

Carl Herbert of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has suggested that Kittitians and Nevisians be aware of the importance of “starting the preparedness process as early as possible.”

“Don’t wait until a hurricane is breathing down your neck to try and batten down,” the National Disaster Coordinator for St. Kitts & Nevis told SKNVibes.com in an interview earlier this year.

“People should be doing their usual procedures: stocking up on non-perishable foods, containers of fresh water, sealing documents in water proof containers as well as any special preparations that need to be done,” he stated.

When asked about the increase in the occurrence of hurricanes in recent years, Herbert said that the scientific community has not reached a definitive reason why the number of storms has been increasing.

“There are those who would say that it is due to climate change and there are those who would oppose that view, but I can’t emphasize enough how important it is for the Federation to be ready, whatever the reason,” concluded the National Disaster Coordinator.