Hurricane season officially ends but impact lingers

Hurricane Maria left destruction in Dominica

It is finally over.

According to the calendar of the National Hurricane Center, November 30 marks the official end of the Atlantic Hurricane Season, which spawned 17 named storm.

Here in the Caribbean, September was particularly brutal with the passage of two Category 5 monsters, Irma and Maria, which left an unprecedented path of death and destruction.

Countries such as Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands, Dominica, Puerto Rico, St. Barts, St. Maarten/Martin and the U.S. Virgin Islands all took direct hits and will take years to recover.

The World Bank said damages and losses, in the wake of Hurricane Maria, in Dominica amount to US$1.3-billion or 224 percent of GDP.

According to official reports, 31 people have died and 34 are missing and presumed dead.

Loubiere and Pointe Michel were the hardest hit in terms of human casualties.

One of the main bread earners in the Caribbean, tourism, was severely impacted.

The region had originally forecast a growth rate between 2.5% and 3.5% this year over last. Now the forecast stands at 1% to 2%.

“The economic impact of the storms is significant. The Caribbean Development Bank predicts that every 1% reduction in tourist arrivals will cost $137 million in lost revenue,” said Hugh Riley, secretary general of the Caribbean Tourism Organization. “No doubt the hurricanes presented us with some major challenges, but we are determined to rebuild better and more sustainably.”

Weather experts say the 2017 season was one of the most active and destructive seasons ever recorded.

It ultimately produced 17 named storms, including 10 that strengthened into hurricanes and six of those that were major hurricanes — Category 3, 4 or 5 storms packing highly destructive winds of 111 mph or stronger.

The last time a Hurricane season was this active was in 2012 with 19 tropical storms and 10 named hurricanes.

 

 

 

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11 Comments

  1. Let The Truth Be Known - Original
    December 1, 2017

    Hurricane season:
    June too soon
    July stand by
    August look out you must
    September remember
    October all over

    Someone told me November should be in it.
    Considering how long ago someone made this up, I suppose the weather was not so bad then until November.
    Dominicans have September 2017 to remember.

  2. November 30, 2017

    Scar Rit we call him hear in the diaspora.

  3. November 30, 2017

    Any idea yet what the next Atlantic hurricane season will be like when it returns in six months from now that will be in 2018?

  4. Die hard Dominican
    November 30, 2017

    There are some Dominicans who just cannot be pleased; No matter what. They will complain amd complain and criticize because that’s all they know of doing. They do not know how to be grateful at all! No matter what, it will always be true. You never miss the water till the well runs dry. I’ll leave it at this!

  5. November 30, 2017

    This was in fact one of our worst seasons on record. Maria and Irma really pulled a number on our islands. Happy that it’s over but we are now exposed again and will have to work much harder to prepare for the next which will be here sooner than we think.

  6. marie-claire R Skerrit
    November 30, 2017

    Maria Maria Maria..Woman when i catch you i shall daykarlay you for the things you have some to the Nature Isle. Be warned

    • Let The Truth Be Known - Original
      December 1, 2017

      Catch her if you can. :lol: :lol: :lol: She has gone and for good, never to surface again. Her name is retired.

  7. It's my damn business
    November 30, 2017

    Hurricane season maybe officially end but Hurricane SKERRIT is unseasonal and that we have to deal with year round.

    • November 30, 2017

      Smh, I’m sure you eat, sleep, drink and poop Skerrit.

      • November 30, 2017

        Thought the same. They are too fascinated by the man. We may as well refer to them as ‘Skerrit-crazy’.

    • November 30, 2017

      Wow, what to do with some of you!?

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