The weather report on page 2 in Saturday’s edition did not mention the disturbance that would affect the island that night and Sunday. The reason is that the Meteorological Department of St. Maarten evening forecast by e-mail had not been received as customary.
To compound matters, the Met Office’s own website was not updated after the midday forecast either, so that is the one published the next morning. In fact, the 6:00pm forecast had failed to come in for several days.
The intention here is not to bash a Government agency that was itself hard hit by Hurricane Irma and has nevertheless been providing the public with information on weather conditions. After all, the Met Office is no doubt working to the best of its ability under extremely difficult circumstances.
However, in the current situation, with many persons having completely or partially lost their roofs, it is of the utmost importance that they are made aware of any approaching system in a timely and widespread manner, for which the newspaper is one of the main tools. While the weekend’s rain and wind weren’t that bad, several tarpaulins placed on damaged homes to provide at least some shelter were blown off, with all consequences for inhabitants.
It’s not likely most of these residents could have done much about that in one day, but prior notice might have given more the option to go elsewhere until skies cleared. It may not seem like a big deal, but for those involved it could make a huge difference.
The meteorological service of any country, certainly in the so-called “hurricane belt,” is considered a vital organisation that must in principle always be in full operation, if at all possible. The Atlantic Hurricane season is far from over and missing just one weather bulletin could lead to considerable problems.
