Barbados kept close watch on Hurricane Tammy

Officials urge close watch as feeder bands could cause trouble

By Emmanuel Joseph

Residents in Barbados were preparing to go to bed on Friday night with a caution from meteorological officials that the otherwise uneventful day could change during the early hours of Saturday morning even though the centre of Hurricane Tammy had started moving away from the island.

Of particular concern to the Director of the Barbados Meteorological Services Sabu Best were the feeder bands that trailed behind the cyclone as it passed some 85 miles to the north of Barbados. While there was the possibility of weakening to the east and east-southeast, there was concern that other feeder bands could appear elsewhere at any time.

“When the core moves away from the island throughout the course of the night, and we are out of range from the storm force winds, there is still the possibility of feeder bands developing well outside of the core as we have seen with previous systems,” Best said during a televised interview.

“And we have to be mindful that we could still get showers that come later on after midnight or even into Saturday morning. We have to be always watching and mindful of this,” he advised.

The top met official had also predicted that residents should start feeling the impact of gusty winds from between 6 p.m. and just after midnight.

“Those predictions are pretty good. They are right here on our doorstep. But it [the system] is not moving much – one, because Tammy is moving very slowly and two, they tend to develop, dissipate and then redevelop in another area. So, that is what we must be mindful of where that feeder band is going to develop next. It should be very close to Barbados or north of us. Let’s hope it is north of us and away from us. As the night progresses, that can happen at any time throughout the course of the night, say, within the next six to eight hours,” Best cautioned.

However, the island’s chief weather watcher was generally optimistic about a favourable outcome once the centre of the system continues to veer away from Barbados in a northerly direction.

“The really good thing is that . . . the centre is moving away, and once the centre moves away, then those winds associated with the core in the centre of the system also will move away with that from the island,” he assured.

But in his 8 p.m. update, Best reported that a new feeder band had started to develop.

“We now started to have some heavy showers going across the southern part of the island…Christ Church, St Philip are seeing rainfall rates of 100 millimetres per hour. It’s not going to be consistent. Showers are going to be in and out really heavy,” he said.

The Met Services Director disclosed that up to that time, between one to two inches of rainfall had already fallen offshore, and in short order, that same amount was expected to accumulate across the southern half of the island.

He said that even more showers were expected to come onshore and would spread to other parts of the island. 

“So, there is a flash flood warning in effect for the whole island from 8 p.m.,” he announced, noting at that time that the tropical storm watch also remained.

Best was also happy that the winds were below storm force and were not sustained.

Earlier on Friday, a few short sharp showers were experienced in the early evening in some parts of the island and it was mostly business as usual as the sun shone brightly throughout much of the day with little sign of adverse weather conditions.

President of the Barbados Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI) James Clarke described the day as uneventful.

“The day went relatively easy and uneventful…. It just depends on what occurs overnight, if anything. That seems to be the Met Office’s concern. Many businesses were generally open, some closed early, but other than that…we wait and see what transpires overnight,” he suggested.

The country’s two main ports of entry – the Grantley Adams International Airport and the Bridgetown Port – remained open during the day and there were no reports or any major flight disruptions.

Private and public transport continued to ferry commuters around the island, but non-emergency services at the main hospital, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, closed after midday.

emmanueljoseph@barbadostoday.bb