National Emergency Management Organization

Prime Minister’s Office

NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Velda Joseph, Director, NEMO
director@nemo.gov.lc
+1 758 4849860

Official Start of the Atlantic Hurricane Season – June 01, 2015

The 2015 Atlantic Hurricane Season starts today, June 01, 2015 and, while forecasts suggest a below average or below normal season, the National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) is urging the public to be vigilant and to be prepared as advanced planning and preparation can save lives and protect property.  For persons who have not already done so, now is the time to take a moment to re-assess your vulnerabilities and risks and to update your emergency plans.

For this hurricane season, which officially runs from June 1 - November 30, researchers from the Colorado State University (CSU) are predicting a well below-average season for the Atlantic Basin.  Accordingly, the CSU Tropical Meteorology Project team is calling for seven (7) named storms (winds of 39 mph or higher), of which three (3) are expected to become hurricanes (winds of 74 mph or higher) and one (1) to reach major hurricane strength (Saffir/Simpson category 3-4-5) with sustained winds of 111 miles per hour or greater.   The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is also predicting a below normal season for the Atlantic Basin with a 70 percent likelihood of 6 to 11 named storms, of which 3 to 6 could become hurricanes including zero to 2 major hurricanes.  

Despite these predictions, NEMO wishes to strongly convey the message that a below-normal hurricane season does not mean that we can relax or that there is nothing to worry about this year.  As has been seen in the past, below-normal seasons can still have very devastating impacts on communities and nations, and for us, one landfall event can make the season a very active one. 

NEMO therefore encourages the public to be equally prepared every year (all year round) and to heed all watches and warnings as issued by the Saint Lucia Meteorological Services, the official weather information source for Saint Lucia.  Further, we should be mindful that continued volatility in weather, as demonstrated by the Christmas Eve trough, demands that we are prepared at all times for unexpected and dangerous events which may happen at any time.

The National Emergency Management Organization will continue to play its part towards ensuring that the nation is in a state of readiness to deal with the impact of hazards but would also like to appeal to the public to take disaster preparedness information seriously and to implement measures as necessary to ensure their safety and ultimately, to reduce losses from such events. 

For further information on hurricane preparedness, please visit http://www.nemo.gov.lc or www.weready.org.