While we can complain about the weather when storms are approaching our small Islands, there is now something we can do about them.
Grand Cayman is slated to get Doppler radar next year to help not only our own meteorologists, but also to make storm predictions better for the entire Caribbean region.
Weather gurus were on Grand Cayman this past week at the 50th session of the Caribbean Meteorological Council at the Marriott Hotel.
There they learned that regional and international communication and collaboration are needed to mitigate damage from natural disasters like hurricanes and tsunamis.
The Doppler radar that is supposed to be put on Grand Cayman will be plugging a black hole in the weather predicting system in the northern Caribbean. Until the radar is set up, there is no radar signal in this part of the world.
Doppler won’t prevent natural disasters, but it will go a long way to helping us prepare for any impending storm.
Doppler works by beaming a microwave signal toward a desired target and listening for its reflection, then analysing how the frequency of the returned signal has been altered by the object’s motion. This variation gives direct and highly accurate measurements of the radial component of a target’s velocity relative to the radar, according to wikipedia.org.
Had we had Doppler in 2004, we might have been better prepared to anticipate and get through Hurricane Ivan.
And that’s what it all boils down to – getting information ahead of the storm.
Once we are armed with information, we can better prepare ourselves to get through a hurricane or other natural disaster. Having information beforehand also helps in recovery efforts after a storm.
We were lucky this hurricane season, which officially ends at the end of November.
Freak storms can and do occur out of season, so it’s best to always be prepared with ample hurricane supplies and plans, both at home and at work.
The Doppler radar will be a welcomed addition.
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