The Cayman Islands National Weather Service said prolonged supply chain issues continue to hamper repairs to the Doppler radar, and the instrument will not be operational in time for the June start of the Atlantic hurricane season.
In a statement released Friday 13 May, CINWS Director General John Tibbetts said a crucial component needed for the repairs of the radar, which had been ordered in 2021, was expected to have arrived earlier this year. However, “the order is still in progress and no updated arrival date has been provided”.
The Kearney Gomez Doppler Radar, which is located in High Rock, East End, is used to detect and track precipitation.
The radar went offline on 21 Oct. last year and has been out of service since.
“We continue to follow up with the radar manufacturer on the status of our order and are making every effort to get the radar up and running as soon as possible,” said Tibbetts in the statement.
Tibbetts said a separate part, needed for the repair of the generator, has arrived and will be installed in the coming weeks.
The October 2021 incident was not the first time the Doppler radar went offline.
In August last year, a suspected lightning strike took down the radar for almost two weeks due to a damaged generator.
The initial 2022 hurricane season forecast calls for an above-average hurricane season.
Although the radar is not expected to be functional for the start of the season, Tibbetts said his team will still be able to provide timely and accurate forecasts.
“In the meantime, our team continues to deliver accurate, timely forecasts, advisories and warnings to the public using the other tools and services at our disposal.”
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There is a sense of poetic justice that the government experience the same quality of customer service that anyone who has to deal with WORC, DoA, CBC etc.
However, this doesn’t provide any comfort to anyone who finds Hurricane season stressful.
Supply chain issues only explain so much. The rest is simply disinterest and lack of accountability. If somebody was told they would be fired if it wasn’t operational for Hurricane Season we can be certain it would be fixed by end of May.