‘Don’t get complacent!’ – DDM’s Philomena N. Robertson
“The Atlantic hurricane season is far from over, there is another system already coming from the African coast. Residents are encouraged not to become complacent. Persons need to ensure that their disaster plans are in place, whether for family, business or Government department and be prepared to take the required actions as they become necessary,” she said in a comment to this news site today, August 28, 2015.
This morning the DDM announced that it had discontinued the tropical storm warning for Erika.
Robertson noted that various operations that had been affected by the now dwindling storm are coming back on stream.
“Operations are returning to normal across the BVI following the passage of Tropical Storm Erika. The National Emergency Operations Centre has been receiving updates from various agencies. The BVI Airports Authority has already resumed operations at the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport while operations at the other two will resume shortly,” she said in a comment to this news site.
She noted that the BVI Ports Authority has re-opened the sea ports for domestic travel and the decision to resume international ferry service operations is dependent on the USVI Ports Authority.
The VI spared most significant impact
Robertson said that while some decisions might have been unpopular they were necessary for the preservation of life.
“The BVI was obviously spared the most significant impact from TS Erika but we need to appreciate the value of being prepared and making tough decisions, which although unpopular, are always geared at saving lives,” she said.
“We are monitoring the impact on the system on the US Virgin Islands and also in Dominica. The local disaster office stands ready to offer any assistance as needed to our counterparts,” she said.
So far it appears that Dominica has had the brunt of the storm with major damage to infrastructure and reports of lives being lost.
Tropical wave forecast, says National Hurricane Center
Meanwhile, the National Hurricane Center of the US is advising that a tropical wave is forecast to move off of the west coast of Africa over the weekend. “Some slow development is possible through the middle of next week while the system moves west-northwestward near the Cape Verde Islands at about 10 mph. Formation chance through 48 hours...low...near 0 percent; Formation chance through 5 days...low...30 percent,” said a bulletin that was posted on their website today.
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15 Responses to “‘Don’t get complacent!’ – DDM’s Philomena N. Robertson”
Thank you to the DDM for doing a great job with the scientific information that they had at hand!