TT under Tropical Storm Warning

TRINIDAD and Tobago is now supposed to be experiencing tropical storm effects — thunder showers and gusty winds — as a result of Hurricane Ivan, whose centre is expected to pass over Barbados at eight o’clock this morning. This country was last evening under a tropical storm warning, while Grenada and its dependencies were under a hurricane warning, although the hurricane was downgraded to Category Two at 5 pm. Tobago is expected to be affected more than Trinidad, but the Met Office at Piarco warned the entire country to be prepared and take precautions, as feeder bands are expected to be felt from as early as 4 am today. TT was put under a tropical storm warning at 11 am yesterday, when Ivan was centred near 11.2N Latitude and 53.4W Longitude, or approximately 750 km east of Tobago. At that time, Ivan was a Category Three hurricane and was moving toward the west at 35 km/h and a westward to west-northwest motion was expected.

The Met Office said the motion was expected to take the centre of Ivan south of Barbados by 8 am today. Maximum sustained winds were near 205km/h, with higher gusts. In its 2 pm advisory, Ivan was centred near 11.4N Latitude and 54.4W Longitude or approximately 650 km east of Tobago. The maximum sustained winds had dropped to 185km/h, but the Met Office advised that the system could “re-intensify.” Ivan was continuing at 35km/h in the same west-northwest direction. The advisory said hurricane force winds were expected to extend outward up to 55km from the centre, and tropical storm force winds could extend outward up to 220km. At 5 pm Hurricane Ivan was downgraded to Category Two status and was located at 560 km east of Tobago with maximum sustained winds near 165km/h with higher gusts. The Met Office said the hurricane’s path was expected to take it through the Windward Islands today.

It said flooding and landslides are expected to occur in areas so prone. Tobagonians living along the coastline were told to evacuate. In downtown Port-of-Spain at about 1 pm, supermarkets reported normal sales with not much “storm preparations or panic buying.” By late afternoon, the streets of the capital were chaotic as persons hustled to get transport out of the city. The Downtown Owners and Merchants Association (DOMA) advised persons whose homes and businesses are in flood prone areas to take precautions, especially those in the South Quay, Port-of-Spain area, moreso because they were recently affected by flooding.

DOMA said it was in contact with the Port-of-Spain City Corporation, which promised to do all it possibly could to minimise the effects of the storm. Efforts to contact the Port-of-Spain offices of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) proved futile as its voice mailbox was full. However, since the start of the hurricane season on June 1, the agency has been advising persons to take the necessary precautions. It advised that water be stored, batteries, candles and tinned foods be bought and, depending on advisories from the Met Office, to board up windows, secure pets and clear away debris which could fly and cause damage during a tropical storm or hurricane.

Hurricane Ivan churns toward Barbados

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados: Residents rushed to install storm shutters and schools remain closed in Barbados as Hurricane Ivan churned toward the Caribbean yesterday, packing sustained winds of 125 mph (205 kph) and threatening islands in its path. A hurricane warning was issued for Barbados, St Lucia, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Grenada; a hurricane watch for Martinique; and a tropical storm warning for Trinidad and Tobago. “We expect it to maintain its strength but it’s a smaller storm compared to Frances, so the eye would have to pass directly over some of these islands to cause extensive damage,” said Eric Blake, a meteorologist at the US National Hurricane Centre in Miami. Earlier, forecasters said the storm could become a Category Five, the deadliest of storms, but Ivan had weakened to Category Three early yesterday.

At 11 am, Ivan’s centre was about 435 miles (700 kilometres) east-southeast of Barbados. It was expected to hit the island of 280,000 today and was moving toward the west near 22 mph (35 kph). Prime Minister Owen Arthur convened an emergency session of the Cabinet as residents and some businesses put up hurricane shutters. Islanders also rushed to stores to buy supplies like lanterns, kero-sene, flashlights, batteries, canned food and bottled water. Motorists also queued up at gas stations to fill their tanks. The new school term was expected to begin yesterday, but authorities told children to remain home.

Teachers, however, were required to report to help prepare school buildings as shelters. Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 35 miles (56 kilometres) from Ivan’s centre while tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 140 miles (225 kilometres). Ivan became the fourth major hurricane of the season on Sunday afternoon, following Hurricane Frances, which left at least two dead in the Bahamas and carved out a path of destruction that stretched from the Turks and Caicos to Florida.

NEMA advises evacuation of Tobago coasts

By MARISSA WILLIAMS Tobago Bureau

The National Emergency Manage-ment Authority yesterday issued a call for persons living and operating businesses on the coastline of north and east Tobago, particularly Speyside, to immediately secure and evacuate their properties in preparation for Hurricane Ivan. The agency held an impromptu media briefing after a meeting with health, fire, police and other officials at its headquarters at Fairfield Complex in Bacolet yesterday, where it was announced that Tobago would not be experiencing hurricane force winds, but rather the effects of tropical storm winds. At the time of the briefing, Tobago was said to be directly east of the eye of the hurricane and on the extreme edge of the tropical’s storm wind flow. According to NEMA, the storm is expected to hit the island at around 4 am today. Coordinator of NEMA Tobago, Owen Sandy, said that based on technical information received by the agency, the storm is expected to seriously affect the northern parts of the island.

“Specifically, we are looking at the shoreline or the coastal area of Speyside so that we are advising the fisherfolk on that coastal area to secure their boats. We are also asking that persons who actually live on the beach try to secure or make arrangements to actually move from those locations and more inland,” he continued. Sandy warned Tobagonians not to panic, but to stock up on the usual supplies and follow the necessary advisory bulletins. He was confident that the emergency shelters on the island were intact as preparatory excercises had been undertaken earlier this year after similar storm threats to the island. He also disclosed that police and fire service units were poised to immediately answer any emergency calls and that the various agencies would be closely monitoring the movements of the storm from the EOC headquarters at Fairfield Complex in Bacolet last night into this morning. Chief Secretary of the Tobago House of Assembly, Orville London, under whose office the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) falls, expressed confidence in the preparations undertaken by NEMA, but advised the population to be prepared for any eventuality.

“There is a need for us to take the threat seriously and to make sure that we are as prepared as possible. One does not know exactly what is going to happen, because as we said, no one knows the mind of a storm. It can bear north and decide that it is not going to treat with us this time around, or it can bear south and then we have a major disaster so that you’ve got to be prepared for every eventuality. However, I want to say that from my association with NEMA and the various agencies over the past month with these two threats, I am very heartened. I would have seen and I am very impressed by the level of professionalism and commitment and I am saying that from the technical perspective, I think that we are very well served. I will expect that all of us will pray that despite the fact that we have put everything in place, that it is not necessary,” London said. In his capacity as Secretary for Education, London also announced there would be no school on the island today and would hopefully resume tomorrow to a Tobago that is untouched by the storm.

Schools were dismissed early and there was a mild case of panic-buying in Tobago yesterday as residents sought to stock up on emergency supplies. There were long lines at the supermarkets and several hardwares reported extra sales as persons rushed to purchase galvanise, board, torchlights and other emergency items in anticipation of the hurricane. There were, however, no signs of properties actually being boarded up or secured. Meanwhile, the Port Authority of Trinidad and Tobago announced that it had cancelled its 11 pm sailing from Scarborough last night and the 2 pm sailing from Port-of-Spain today, and that passengers would be accommodated at the first possible opportunity. Cancellations of flights in and out of the country have not yet been issued as the relevant authorities are still monitoring the weather system. However, the BWIA flight to Barbados has been cancelled as that island is under hurricane watch.