Looking back, the first impression for Cayman on the recently-ended 2023 hurricane season might be ‘another lucky escape’. Be that as it may, it’s reason to be even more prepared for next year’s season…and any other, even unexpected, disaster eventuality.
Any collective sigh of relief must come with due kudos to the Cayman Islands disaster management agencies. Their planning, community education and information campaigns, instilled a sense of quiet reassurance that if the worst were to happen we would have been prepared. Plan for the worse but hope for the best.
In Cayman’s case, the best happened…in that nothing happened. Elsewhere it was different.
Initially expected to be subdued by comparison to recent years, the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season instead churned up an active period of 20 named storms, six more than the average pre-season forecast, making it the fourth-highest total of named storms in a year since 1950, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Seven became hurricanes with three hurricanes reaching Category 5, 4 and 3 respectively. In the Atlantic hurricane naming system of the the World Meteorological Organization, 2023 went as far as Tammy.
But once again Cayman was spared.
It was certainly a season for the record books - for all the wrong reasons for some countries.
No doubt the national disaster manager agencies and authorities will review their preparedness for the past season and tweak whatever they might consider needs tweaking.
No matter how good on paper the plans are, there will always be an unexpected situation to factor in.
But despite the hurricane season ending on a safe note for Cayman once again, Hurricane Ivan of 2004 remains a point of reference.
the clear and present concern of climate change and its impact on vulnerable, exposed, especially low-lying countries like Cayman will continue to be a matter of concern.
The most recent United Nations COP (Conference of the Parties) summit has given us a stark reminder of this.
Cayman’s preparedness must continue to be a quiet, reassured state of awareness which should be reflected in our development plans, especially on environmental controls. Mitigation is key to disaster management.
And for that, we give due kudos to our disaster management agencies, principally Hazard Management Cayman Islands (HMCI) and its subsidiary agencies - National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) and National Emergency Notification System (NENS), Cayman Islands National Weather Service(CINWS), and the various other government and non-governmental agencies and emergency services which keep us prepared and safe.
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