Preparations
Hurricane Dean was very difficult to forecast in its early stages as the storm approached the eastern Caribbean. Even though most forecast models predicted that Dean would skirt the Leeward Islands, the track prediction models were not consistent and, as a result, uncertainty existed in justifying the posting of watches and warnings for the Leeward Islands and Puerto Rico. One track predicted Dean to threaten South Florida within three to four days.
Regardless, the National Hurricane Center issued hurricane warnings for Guadeloupe on August 2 and the rest of the Leeward Islands extending to the Virgin Islands. The uncertainty of the hurricanes forecast track forced residents and tourists in the Lesser Antilles to evacuate. In the British Virgin Islands, 80 American and Canadian tourists evacuated to hotels. In Puerto Rico, residents were advised to secure or stow away loose objects and stock up on emergency supplies. 1.1 million residents in the city of San Juan went to supermarkets to get much needed supplies in anticipation that the storm might hit Puerto Rico. In Humacao, the National Guard evacuated 1,966 people living along a coastal highway. The islands of Martinique and Dominica were placed under a hurricane watch. The warning for Guadeloupe was discontinued at 2200 UTC when the hurricane posed no threat to the island. Simultaneously, the hurricane watches in effect for Martinique and Dominica were also discontinued. As Dean continued westward, the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch for the Turks and Caicos Islands. The watch was soon canceled as Dean made its northward turn towards Bermuda.
In Bermuda, the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane watch on August 5. The hurricane watch was later changed to a hurricane warning the following day. Dean’s approach to the island canceled numerous inbound and outbound flights. In Atlantic Canada, the National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning for Nova Scotia and Sable Island, while the Canadian forecasters issued a high wind advisory.
Read more about this topic: Hurricane Dean (1989)
Famous quotes containing the word preparations:
“In all the important preparations of the mind she was complete; being prepared for matrimony by an hatred of home, restraint, and tranquillity; by the misery of disappointed affection, and contempt of the man she was to marry. The rest might wait. The preparations of new carriages and furniture might wait for London and the spring, when her own taste could have fairer play.”
—Jane Austen (1775–1817)
“The most evident difference between man and animals is this: the beast, in as much as it is largely motivated by the senses and with little perception of the past or future, lives only for the present. But man, because he is endowed with reason by which he is able to perceive relationships, sees the causes of things, understands the reciprocal nature of cause and effect, makes analogies, easily surveys the whole course of his life, and makes the necessary preparations for its conduct.”
—Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 B.C.)
“Whatever may be the reason, whether it was that Hitler thought he might get away with what he had got without fighting for it, or whether it was that after all the preparations were not sufficiently complete—however, one thing is certain: he missed the bus.”
—Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940)