Barbados has welcomed a decision to position the US-based Hurricane Hunter aircraft at least five days before the approach of a tropical system.
“We are happy… and we have been agitating for some time that we need to have the positioning of the Hurricane Hunter at an earlier point. We are at 59 degrees and I am told that there has already been a decision on the part of NOAA to be able to pre-position it that will benefit us by the additional day to two days of early warning, depending on the pace and the movement of the system,” Prime Minister Mia Mottley told a two-day conference on climate services that ended on Thursday.
The event has been organized by the Barbados-based Caribbean Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
She said the early positioning of the aircraft was critical to Barbados’ ability to improve on its preparations and warnings for the storms that are now likely to become more intense.
“The ideal, I am told, is five days. If what you have done has now brought us to three days, we are within reach of the ideal, but … we are entirely grateful as a region and in particular as a nation being the most easterly country to be able to have that concession from NOAA.
“And if I did nothing else today, it would be to thank you on behalf of a grateful nation that because of its geographical location has not been able to have the level of accuracy that we would prefer to have had…,” Mottley added.
Mottley said that one of the benefits of early warning systems was to minimize risk and to “reduce the loss of expenditure” as well as to ensure that “when meteorologists speak that people listen and act”.
The prime minister said early warning systems was also necessary as it pertains to the drought situation, adding that the government has used the impact of the 201 drought on the Caribbean to ensure that between 2016 and 2018, there was an early warning system in place to ensure that governments were better prepared.
Similarly, in 2019, when the country faced the worst drought in its history, Mottley said the fallout was minimal as farmers and planners were better prepared to deal with that climatic event.
“That is why this meeting is important. That is why we should be proud of the fact that internationally the World Meteorological Organization and other entities believe that the Caribbean is setting global standards in recognizing the provision of these climate services, in particular to the agricultural sector, the health sector and the tourism sector.”
CMC/
