By AVA TURNQUEST
Tribune Chief Reporter
aturnquest@tribunemedia.net
PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday urged the entire country to batten down and stay indoors as no island will be spared from the effects of Hurricane Matthew, with the dangerous storm forecast to touch down in the southeast Bahamas today, and make its way through the island chain into Thursday.
While all islands will experience tropical force winds up to 73mph, Trevor Basden, director of the Bahamas Meteorology Department, said computer models indicate nine southern islands will get hurricane force winds up to 125mph.
As of yesterday, computer models projected that Inagua will be the first island affected today, with tropical storm force winds at 7am, then Ragged Island at 10am, Acklins at 2pm, Crooked Island and Mayaguana at 4pm, Long Island at 6pm, Samana Cay at 7pm and Rum Cay at 11pm. Ragged Island will begin to experience hurricane force winds at 9pm today.
On Wednesday, the tropical force winds will hit Exuma and San Salvador at midnight, Crooked Island at 3am, Eleuthera at 7am, Andros at 2pm, New Providence at 3pm and Abaco at 7pm. Grand Bahama, Bimini and the Berry Islands are expected to experience tropical storm force winds on Thursday at 1am and 2am, respectively.
Mr Basden said: “Based on the trajectory, not only will the winds be important in the passage of Hurricane Matthew but also storm surge, dangerous storm surge, that adversely affected the islands even with Joaquin last year. It is expected that a combination of surge and wave water levels by as much as 10 to 15 feet above normal tides; this is slightly less than Joaquin which had 22-foot surges.
“We expect rainfall of eight to 12 inches to accompany the passage but mainly around the hurricane force winds itself. Some inch and a half to two inches of rainfall usually causes extensive flooding, so we are taking Matthew very seriously and we are asking residents throughout the Bahamas to pay close attention to all alerts.”
At 11pm yesterday, Matthew was centred about 190 miles southwest of the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. It was moving north at 8mph with sustained winds of 145mph. Matthew’s tropical storm-force wind field extends up to 185 miles from the centre and hurricane-force winds up to 40 miles from the centre.
Evacuations
During a national broadcast from the Cabinet Office yesterday, officials from various Hurricane Command Centres operating under the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed their readiness to meet the storm’s challenges a full year after Hurricane Joaquin - a category four storm - ravaged the southern islands.
Speaking of the dangers of false reporting, Mr Christie cautioned Bahamians to heed information from official sources and not informal reports on social media.
He noted that the briefing served as one of the final statements made by the government, with continued updates to be led by NEMA.
“We must listen and we must follow those directives,” Mr Christie said. “We spoke to the administrator of Long Island. Long Island was separated by water in several places during Hurricane Joaquin. We urged the administrator to move affected persons from those areas that our experience tells us can be flooded, to move them to higher ground.
“We try not to put in mandatory evacuations and we try to persuade Bahamians to be aware of the need to protect themselves and their families. Obviously if it comes to requiring them to move through mandatory evacuations we will make those decisions. But as of now we are urging all Bahamians to take maximum safety precautions for yourselves and your families.”
He pledged that the government was ready and prepared to take immediate action throughout the storm and in its wake.
Pointing to the storm’s directional path through the Bahamas, NEMA Director Captain Stephen Russell explained that disaster management teams have been instructed to ensure that their operations are self-sufficient for at least three days until external assistance can arrive.
“This system coming from the south transiting the Bahamas going to the north, that means the entire Bahamas could be impacted,” Capt Russell said.
“Even though the southern Bahamas may eventually be cleared, the central and northern Bahamas is still under tropical storm or hurricane force conditions. Therefore we here in New Providence are restricted in our ability to respond to those islands in the southern Bahamas.”
He added: “Over past month or past years, we’ve been encouraging our disaster managers and committees throughout the Bahamas to try and make sure you are self-sufficient to take care of yourself for at least three days in the aftermath of a natural disaster until external assistance can arrive.”
Preparation
Capt Russell said the organisation was “somewhat comfortable” with the level of preparedness after debriefings with stakeholders yesterday, noting that Family Island administrators have all expressed “to some degree” that they are happy with the state of preparedness of their communities, and designated shelters.
Although social workers stationed at shelters will have basic health and food items, Melanie Zonicle, director of Social Services, advised persons to take a blanket, medication, and light food items because “the food items that the Department of Social Services will provide may not be in sufficient supply for everyone.” She also reminded persons to bring vital documents.
Doctors and nurses in the Family Islands are equipped with government cell phones, according to Charlene Bain, Community Health Administrator, who confirmed that health officials in Exuma, Crooked Island, Long Island and Abaco received satellite phones, with officials in San Salvador and Acklins expected to receive phones by the end of yesterday. She confirmed that all health teams are mobilised, and ready to bring rapid response throughout the country once the all clear is given.
Mrs Bain said repairs needed to be carried out to the generator at the clinic in Inagua, where she said a doctor will be placed permanently once weather has cleared up. While there is no physician in Acklins, Mrs Bain said there were three nurses.
Speaking to communication systems, Capt Russell said that NEMA has received confirmation from BTC that its systems were restructured in the aftermath of Hurricane Joaquin and should stand up “fairly well” throughout the storm’s passage.
In addition to police officers, Capt Russell said that advance teams from the Royal Bahamas Defence Force - equipped with satellite and cell phones and radios - will establish a third link in the communications network.
There also will be flood and water rescue teams of 12 to 15 persons on a dozen major islands, including Acklins, Crooked Island, Mayaguana, Exuma, Long Island, and Abaco.
The teams, trained in collaboration with the US Northern Command, are equipped with the necessary equipment to mount rescue missions.
Food and water
NEMA has established a memorandum of understanding with food store chain Super Value and water companies, Capt Russell said, to ensure that food and water will be made available for transport and assessment operations.
Once the all clear is given, Capt Russell said stakeholder teams have been mobilised to immediately launch damage assessments as early as Friday.
He confirmed that international and regional agencies have pledged to assist the country following the storm’s passage, including Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency, USAID, Pathfinders and helicopter services.
Nine Royal Bahamas Defense Force patrol craft have been moved out of the storm’s path, and are on standby to render assistance with disaster assessment and relief operations.
Some 204 migrants detained at the Carmichael Road Detention Centre will be moved to the Bahamas Department of Correctional Services for the duration of the storm.
The prison has been prepared for a major storm since the start of the hurricane season, according to Patrick Wright, commissioner of corrections, who confirmed that male detainees will be housed at the remand centre and women will be housed with female prisoners.
Capt Russell also warned: “Persons who are injured by hurricanes is because they do some silly things sometimes they go trying to experiment, sight-seeing from time to time. We encourage persons to take the storm very seriously.”
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