Richards: Redouble efforts
in preparing for hurricanes
PHILIPSBURG--Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards is appealing to the community to redouble its efforts to minimize the risk of injury and destruction should a hurricane strike.
Richards, who is also Chairman of the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC), made his appeal after Colorado State University hurricane prediction team duo Philip Klotzbach and William Gray on Friday downgraded their late-May forecast for the Atlantic Hurricane Season from 17 named storms to 15.
Instead of nine, eight are expected to develop into hurricanes, and instead of five, four are forecast to reach intense hurricane strength, with winds of 111 miles per hour or more. (See report on page 11)
The Colorado State University hurricane forecasters, however, still predict a busy season even though a number of weather related factors have resulted in a slightly lower forecast for the hurricane season. Last week, the third tropical storm system Chantal developed in the North Atlantic Ocean near Bermuda.
The hurricane forecasters expect for the month of August three named storms, two to become hurricanes and one of those to develop into an intense hurricane system.
“We can’t afford to become complacent. As the Office of Disaster Management & Preparedness theme says, ‘How have you prepared yourself for the Hurricane Season?’ Now is the time for residents to review what preparations are in place and to get ready, and not when a storm is about to hit,” Richards was quoted as saying in a press release issued via the Government Information Service (GIS) Sunday.
Residents should take note that even though the forecast has been revised slightly downward, St. Maarten is now approaching the peak period of the hurricane season which runs from mid-August up to mid-October, and should monitor weather reports in order to keep abreast of unfavourable weather, he advised.
The remainder of names for the 2007 Hurricane Season are Dean, Erin, Felix, Gabriella, Humberto, Ingrid, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Noel, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van and Wendy. Andrea formed in May as a subtropical storm followed by Barry in June and Chantal in July. The Hurricane Season runs from June 1 through November 30.
