After Claudette: Were we ready?
Belizeans everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief tonight as Claudette continues to head north and out of our area. But this close call certainly caught a lot of people off guard and the Atlantic promises to get even more active in the coming months. So were we prepared, and if not, what do we have to do to get there? Those are exactly the kinds of questions, News 5’s Jacqueline Woods posed to meteorologist Ramon Frutos this afternoon.
Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
The sighs of relief were almost audible today as Belizeans spent the day watching tropical storm Claudette slowly move away from the country. But for a while things were definitely too close for comfort and this storm’s visit came only just one month and a half in the hurricane season.
Ramon Frutos, Meteorologist
“When it comes to mother nature you can expect anything. And if you notice, this year things have been quite unusual. We started off with a very extensive dry period that last almost half the year and then just before that was over we had tropical storm Ana forming in the Atlantic, which was in April. And now we had Claudette in July in the central Caribbean.”
Jacqueline Woods
“Looking at Claudette, she definitely seems to be following the projected path and will pose little or no threat at all to the country of Belize. But people have been concerned about the amount of rain. With Claudette now moving away from the area, what should we expect?”
Ramon Frutos
“That’s a very good question, because apart from the rain that we were expecting, we were also expecting the tropical force winds affecting the extreme northern areas of Belize. And even that will shift further to the north as Claudette makes a more northwesterly track on it’s way to Yucatan. So on the flooding side, we expect rainfall to be minimal. It will be mostly sporadic in the squall lines or the feeder bands that will be feeding into Claudette when she makes landfall later tonight and tomorrow morning.”
It is expected that there will be less than three inches of rain in the northern part of the country and the hills. However, meteorologist Ramon Frutos says once the storm moves into Mexico, they will need to continue to monitor the system for any signs of potential flooding.
Ramon Frutos
“What we are also watching is the effect of rainfall over Quintana Roo and probably northern Peten, which could result in some quick runoff into the catchments of the Rio Hondo and it could produce some high waters in the Rio Hondo. But again, I don’t think it will be life-threatening and if we get some flooding on the Rio Hondo, it will be probably in the next four to five days.”
“I think we will be out of the woods once Claudette makes landfall and moves into Yucatan where we expect it to weaken a bit before she moves once again into the Gulf of Mexico and into warmer waters where intensification could begin again. When Claudette moves into the Gulf of Mexico we expect it to move on a more westerly track upwards then swing towards the northwest once again.”
Although Claudette was no match for Hurricane Mitch, which struck Honduras in 1998 and killed hundreds of people, both storms did have one thing common, both weather systems tested just how prepared we were…so did we pass or fail?
Ramon Frutos
“It tested our activation process and see how prepared we are. Now we can look back and see are we really prepared to face a big one? That’s the question.”
Jacqueline Woods
“There were some people who became pretty concerned when the storm had entered the preliminary phase. But yet, no bulletin or any declaration was made.”
Ramon Frutos
“I think most people were concerned about that indeed and they have a reason, because with this storm moving so fast it could have affected the movement of people from the cayes and the coastal regions inland. The delay probably was because the storm was expected to take a northwesterly track. And also, it was just a tropical storm and also what was happening is that because it was a small storm the effect or the impact on Belize would only have been on the extreme northern areas of Belize. So really, I don’t think NEMO wanted to go and activate the whole country of Belize. So I think the delay was in a way good, because NEMO made the correct the decision to activate the people in the northern part of the country and set the hurricane watch for the extreme northern part of Belize and northern coastal areas.”
Belizeans are asked to remain vigilant throughout the hurricane season and keep hurricane plans and supplies ready. Jacqueline Woods for News 5.
