Officials to implement storm watch Friday night
(CNS): As tropical Storm Isaac made its way towards Haiti, government officials from Hazard Management said that the Cayman Islands would be placed under a storm watch a 10pm on Friday night, 24 August. Local weather forecasters said that as Tropical Storm Isaac tracks northwest over Haiti and eastern Cuba, Cayman Brac and Little Cayman can expect 3-4” of rain between 7:00 a.m. Saturday and 7:00 a.m. Sunday. During the same time period Grand Cayman can expect around 0.5”. Although, Isaac is expected to pass some way from Cayman, the National Hazard Management Executive met at 5:00pm Friday and decided to issue the WATCH for the three islands.
“Residents must be on the alert for rain, possible flooding in low lying areas, and gusty winds. Seas will be rough with wave heights of 4 to 6 feet and a small craft advisory is in effect,” the council stated.
At 5pm Local Time TS Isaac had strengthened a little more and the NHC said winds had reached 65mph with higher gusts. The centre of Tropical Storm Isaac was located about 100 miles SSE of Port Au Prince, Haiti and was moving toward the northwest near 16 mph
Forecasters said this motion was expected to continue for the next couple of days and on the forecast track Isaac should make landfall in Haiti tonight and move near or over south-eastern Cuba on Saturday.
The NHC said little change in strength is likely before landfall and predicted some weakening as the centre of the storm crosses land. Tropical storm force winds currently extend outward up to 185 miles.
Residents are advised to stay tuned to local media for updates but the weather in Cayman for Friday evening called for cloudy skies with a 40% chance of showers and some thunder. Winds will be east to northeast 15 to 20 knots and seas will be rough with wave heights of 4 to 6 feet and a small craft advisory is in effect. On Saturday winds will be northeast 15 to 20 knots with higher gusts.
For more on TS Isaac and regional weather go to NHC
Category: Science and Nature
How come only Cayman Weather said we were under storm watch? I checked wunderground.com and they didn't have us under storm watch.
The decision to issue a storm watch lies with Cayman weather not wunderground.com. If there information was not up to date could be the problem.
Teachs an important lesson. Watch the other sites but understand that the local sources are tailored for Cayman. Other sites may miss us or get information late.
And please remember we are not the experts and just because you check all these websites does not make you an expert.
If you read the text at the top of the "Alerts" map on wunderground you will see that they post hurricane/tropical storm watches and warnings only for the United States. The NHC posts all alerts.
I checked NHC as well and it wasn't posted. To the poster below: wunderground posts all alerts. I saw alerts for Cuba, Jamiaica, Haiti, Dominican Republic as well as the US.
Simply, WHY?
Dear Civil Servants,
Sorry, but a storm in Cuba and Tampa doesnot mean we have to close Government on Monday. Schools will stay open and business (slow) as usual.
Get rid of this pointless wast of money dept. give 100 bucks a month to charity and I will warn everybody when a disaster is coming.
It must be recognized that the monitoring of severe weather phenomena by Government officials who have responsibility for disaster planning, advice and action decisions, respectively, walks a fine line. The assurance of 'life as usual' cannot be disrupted by panic and knee-jerk reactions. Unless a storm/hurricane is clearly a direct and significant threat it does not behoove officials to take a "Chicken Little" approach. In many cases, the confirmation of whether or not a storm/hurricane poses such a threat is not definite with a lot of advance notice. Granted, there are significantscientific processes and data available but ultimately, no one will predict Mother Nature, exactly, every time. But, our official using the Weather Channel as a source, in addition to local resources, is very wise and presumably required.
As a professional whose responsibilities are critically impacted by severe weather (I do not work for any of the Government disaster management agencies), I have learned to rely on the Weather Channel since the availability of satellite TV technology in the early 1980's (perhaps shortly after the creation of the Channel) for weather monitoring and related planning. As a citizen who experienced Ivan some 20 years later – I now monitor the WC consistently from May to January. Professionally, my planning assisted in lessening Ivan's impact on my organization.
I do not wait solely for Government information and directives because I am cognizant of the cautious approach required in managing national weather-related response in order to properly balance prudent action against creating unnecessary panic. But that does not prevent me from monitoring resources, being informed and prepared and acting as necessary to implement the best options to protect my professional and personal interests. That's all it takes – personal initiative instead of always depending on Government.
My God, i'm glad these $60000k per year civil servants are watching this storm closely for us on the Weather Channel and other free online websites and telling us what to do or be prepared for. What a dreadful waste of money.
Good point, and why did they wait until all the shops were closed and it was dark to issue the watch for the Brac area? Fortunatly, we have the free sites and weather channel to get ahead.
Shows how little you know on storms are tracked — and what it takes to these types of events — and who is actually providing the feeds to WC and local channels — get your facts straight