Imminent weather threat approaches Jamaica
Jamaica’s Meteorological Service has issued a severe weather warning for the island, with the high-pressure system expected over the weekend. The latest bulletin issued by the Met Service at 5:00 am Thursday 22 September 2022, indicated that, as the strong tropical wave over the southeastern Caribbean Sea continues to move westward, it is producing showers and thunderstorms. The Met Service said a tropical wave is causing a disturbance in the weather and is about to approach the southern Caribbean Sea. “A strong tropical wave is producing an area of disturbed weather east of the southern Windward Islands and is about to enter the southern Caribbean Sea. The wave is showing signs of becoming better organized and there is a high potential for development into a tropical depression over the next couple of days,” noted the Met Service’s first bulletin. “As the disturbance moves west-northwestward toward the central Caribbean later this week, there is an increasing threat of severe weather to Jamaica as it moves close to the island and over its territorial waters by Saturday morning. It is also likely that it would be a tropical cyclone at that time,” it added.
The Met Service also advised fishers on the cays and banks to complete preparations and are now being urged to evacuate immediately. Also, operators of other small craft in the country’s coastal waters are advised to return to port, and small craft operators who are in port are advised not to venture out. The Met Service will continue to monitor the system.
Over the past few days, Tropical Storm Fiona developed into a hurricane within the region. It blasted the Turks and Caicos Islands on Tuesday 20 September 2022, as a Category 3 storm after devastating Puerto Rico. According to news reports, most people remained without electricity or running water and rescuers used heavy equipment to lift survivors to safety. The storm’s eye passed close to Grand Turk, the small British territory’s capital island, on Tuesday morning after the government imposed a curfew and urged people to flee flood-prone areas. Storm surges raised water levels there by as much as five to eight feet above normal, according to the United States National Hurricane Center.
Fiona had maximum sustained winds of 125 mph and was moving north-northwest at 8 mph, according to the hurricane centre, which said the storm was likely to strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane as it approached Bermuda on Friday. Rain was still lashing parts of Puerto Rico Tuesday, where the sounds of people scraping, sweeping, and spraying their homes and streets echoed across rural areas as historic flood waters began to recede.
