Today 2019 hurricane season officially begins

The hurricane season officially begins today, until November 30, a period in which the formation of at least 13 tropical cyclones is expected, five of which could reach the category of hurricanes.

As every year for six months, residents in the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean nations are threatened, and in some cases impacted by hurricanes, storms and other phenomena, which affect the lives and economy of the inhabitants on the hurricane route.

The National Office of Meteorology researcher Philip Klotzbach and a group of experts of the University of Colorado points out that, within the forecast of formation of the five hurricanes, two would be intense with category 3, 4 and five on the Saffir–Simpson scale.

“Another important condition that we must point out is the latest runs of numerical models concerning the conditions of the Eastern Equatorial Pacific, show that for this year during the summer, the condition of a weak El Niño pattern will be present, with a weakening in the autumn.”

In the country, the authorities have prepared with the design of a contingency plan that was delivered to the Presidency of the Republic and will be publicly released once it receives the approval of the authorities, said General Juan Manuel Méndez, director of the Emergency Operations Center (COE).

The official informed that this year as always the preparation plays a fundamental role in the preservation of lives and properties before the impact of any hydrometeorological event in the six months of the season.

He insists that there must be more education about risk management from the school, the universities, in the communities, and the families. “To face these events you have to be prepared before, during and after any hydrometeorological phenomenon, it is very important when issuing the guidelines, that a population with this capacity would be better able to respond, should the Government, through the Ministry of Education continue to strengthen the issue of risk management,” said Méndez.

He affirmed that Dominicans have evolved in learning to receive the orientations of the phenomena, the alerts, and the information matrix that allows them to act with greater receptivity.

“The attachment to the material, not only in the country but even in the United States where resources are greater than here, people are attached to their properties. Human beings are like that; we do not want to see that the things we have achieved with sacrifice destroyed,” he said. Within the plan are actions designed to guide people and take measures to ensure their life and property through the armed forces.