June 1st, 2015 -- Today marks the start of the hurricane season, but hopefully, not the start of preparations to protect you, your family and your property. The start of the season coincides with Exercise Tradewinds 2015, which commenced with a "soft" opening at Camp Springfield, yesterday, Sunday, May 31st.
The Exercise wraps up on June 9th with a formal closing ceremony slated for the Kim Collins Athletic Stadium at Bird Rock. Over the next 4 or 5 days, many aspects of the national response system will be tested through activation of the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEMA) and the EOC (NDMD).
Although the 2015 hurricane season got off to an earlier than normal start impacting North and South Carolina, NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) forecasters advise that tropical weather activity in the Atlantic will likely be below-normal.
This hurricane season, which runs from June 1 – November 30, the Climate Prediction Centre at NOAA is predicting a 70 percent likelihood of 6 to 11 named storms, of which 3 to 6 could become hurricanes, including zero to 2 major hurricanes.
While a below-normal season is likely, the experts are saying that there is still a 20 percent chance of a “near-normal” season, and a 10 percent chance of an “above-normal” season, the USA agency said in a news release.
The list of names for 2015 is as follows:
NAME:
Ana
Bill
Claudette
Danny
Erika
Fred
Grace
Henri
Ida
Joaquin
Kate
Larry
Mindy
Nicholas
Odette
Peter
Rose
Sam
Teresa
Victor
Wanda
The season’s early start arrived via Tropical Storm Ana, which made landfall between Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and North Myrtle Beach, North Carolina at 6:00 a.m. EDT on Sunday, 10th May.
The National Hurricane Center downgraded Ana to a tropical depression at 2 p.m. EDT on Sunday.
National Disaster Coordinator, Carl Herbert, is advising persons to engage in best practices during this current season, as recommended by NEMA over the years.
"We want families to develop disaster management plans, ensuring that all members are familiar with each persons roles and responsibilities." he said, "and to do whatever is necessary to protect lives and property from harm and destruction."
The next named storm that forms this season will be Bill.
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