East Trinidad has been identified as the most vulnerable area in the country in the event of a hurricane. Making the statement yesterday was Kenneth Kerr, acting climatologist at the Meteorological Services Division, during a press conference on the start of the hurricane season. The briefing was held at the Hyatt Regency, Port-of-Spain, yesterday. Kerr gave a brief overview of the 2013 rainy and hurricane seasons and forecast.
Asked why the East was identified by the division, Kerr said, “When storms form in that area and they track westward, it is likely T&T is going to be impacted. “Our concern is to the east of T&T. That area is the most vulnerable area for us based on the previous tracks taken. We have found that storms that are formed near ten degrees north or below ten degrees north more often threaten T&T.”
The possibility of a storm or hurricane hitting T&T cannot be predicted months in advance. “At this point we can say nothing about storms landfalling in T&T. That can only be said or made possible when a storm is within hours.” He said the division was fully equipped to monitor all types of weather conditions. The rainy season, he said, was also expected to be wetter than normal, but this would vary in different areas of the country.
With the expected rainfall increase, there is also expected to be an increase in vector-borne diseases including dengue. Kerr said there was a greater chance of more rainfall for north-east, central, south-east and south Trinidad. Tobago is also expected to experience greater than normal rainfall. “For June, July and August, we have a strong tendency towards above normal for all of T&T.
“For September, October and November, we have a tendency for normal rainfall for Trinidad and as for Tobago, we have a strong tendency for above-normal rainfall.” Some of the common factors associated with above-normal rainfall, Kerr said, included flooding, landslides, rivers overflowing their banks and damage to property.
Presenting an overview of the dry season, Kerr said some months which were excessively dry and Tobago in particular experienced dry spells. At the end of March the season became wetter than normal and Kerr described April as “significantly wet.”