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Government of Jamaica plans for Tomas

Published:Monday | November 1, 2010 | 12:00 AM
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This bridge at Bois D'orange, just outside of Castries in St Lucia, was ripped up by flood waters associated with Hurricane Tomas late Saturday evening into Sunday morning, cutting off the north from the south of the country. Up to yesterday, the airports were closed as disaster officials mobilised to intensify recovery efforts. - contributed
A woman walks by damaged power lines and infrastructure on Saturday after Tropical Storm Tomas affected St James parish, Barbados. Tomas, which subsequently became a hurricane, had weakened yesterday but was expected to strengthen into a major hurricane over the coming days. - AP photos
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Laura Redpath, Senior Gleaner Writer

A meeting to discuss Hurricane Tomas has been scheduled for this morning among Jamaica's emergency response and relief agencies, including the Office of Disaster Preparedness and Emergency Management (ODPEM).

A release from the Office of the Prime Minister noted that the meeting was called by Prime Minister Bruce Golding and would be held at 9 a.m., at Jamaica House, followed by a message from Golding to the nation.

Ronald Jackson, ODPEM's director general, said the disaster agency was monitoring the situation.

"We haven't gone to bulletin yet and that's the trigger for operation," Jackson told The Gleaner yesterday.

"It's still too far ahead."

The Meteorological Service yesterday urged fisherfolk to make hurricane preparations and be ready to evacuate.

The local weather team also noted that it could begin issuing bulletins today.

The Met Service reported Tomas was expected to affect Jamaica over the next few days as various weather predictions point to the hurricane making a beeline for Haiti by Thursday.

Jackson noted that the National Response Team, which includes Prime Minister Golding, has been in touch.

He also said that ODPEM has contacted parish disaster coordinators.

Evaluate personal risks

However, he advised that citizens should be alert this week and take the time to re-evaluate their personal risks.

"People should be determining their own levels of preparedness. They should be sorting out their own individual strategies which, of course, will be backed up by national initiatives," he said, referring especially to persons who live in flood-prone areas.

Tomas, according to storm tracker, Stormpulse, by 1 this morning was expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm, with its centre located west of Martinique and south of St Croix at 14.7 degrees north and 66.4 degrees west with wind speed at 70mph (113km/h).

By early afternoon on Wednesday, just before its projected turn towards Haiti, Tomas is expected to be upgraded once more to a hurricane.

Stormpulse receives its tracking information from the National Hurricane Center based in Miami, Florida.

As of 4 p.m. yesterday, Tomas was situated east of Martinique at 14.4 degrees north and 64.9 degrees west with wind speed at 75mph (121km/h) as it moved WNW at 12mph (19km/h).

Tomas has left behind a path of destruction after it knocked out electricity, blocked roads in St Lucia and St Vincent and damaged homes in Barbados.

Haitian authorities were yesterday strongly encouraging the many thousands of Haitians living in camps to relocate to shelter, whether with friends or family, in anticipation of Tomas' strike.

More than a million survivors were displaced following the January 12 earthquake in Port-au-Prince.

laura.redpath@gleanerjm.com