Each year as I prepare to
work on this annual Hurricane message to you I do so with a certain
amount of trepidation because as I put pen to paper, none of us knows
what this hurricane season is going to bring.

Too, I am reminded of that
16th Century
English phrase – “Speak of the Devil and he doth appear”.

I certainly don’t want
to tempt fate!

In the past few weeks we
have anxiously watched our friends in the southern United States
suffer through flooding from torrential rains and damage done by
horrific tornadoes. Our neighbours remain in our thoughts and
prayers. And while hurricanes can be even more damaging than
tornadoes, they are predictable unlike tornadoes that can pop up
quickly.

We are blessed because we
have a National Weather Service that is linked regionally and can
stay on top of all weather issues and inform us in advance when bad
weather is headed our way, giving us time to make preparations.

The early predictions from
our friends in the United States are already out. We are told that
the 2019 Atlantic Hurricane Season is going to be less active than
2018 with 14 named storms, seven hurricanes and three major
hurricanes.

But don’t let that
prediction put you off your guard. We know that just one bad storm
can wreak havoc. We learned that lesson in 2004’s Hurricane Ivan,
2008’s Hurricane Paloma and watched in 2017 as our sister British
Overseas Territories and other islands in the Caribbean suffered from
hurricanes Irma and Maria.

My plea to each of you is
to be prepared for the worst and pray for the best this hurricane
season, which will stretch from 1 June to the end of November.

Earlier this month 17 of
our Emergency Support Teams held a hurricane exercise to assess the
country’s hurricane plans, policies and procedures to give us a
realistic depiction of a hurricane as it approaches, impacts us and
then leaves us behind to clean up. I commend them for their diligence
and service to our country,

What we have learned from
past experiences is that no two hurricanes are alike and many are
unpredictable. For instance Hurricane Ivan wasn’t even supposed to
hit Grand Cayman; it was headed initially for Cayman Brac, until it
wobbled.

Fortunately we have
learned lessons from the storms that either struck us or our
neighbours. The main message, though, is be prepared.

If
we do find ourselves facing another storm this year, I beg you to
please pay attention to Government announcements and bulletins. All
of our media outlets – Radio Cayman FM89.9, the Breeze FM105.3,
Cayman Islands Government TV, Cayman Islands Government Information
Services and http://www.caymanprepared.ky–
will carry information to tell you what to expect and what to do.
Hazard Management Cayman Islands also works with private media houses
that have been diligent each time we have faced a storm to get out
the important, necessary information.

So, if you don’t have a
hurricane plan in place for your family or business, make one and
then join me in my prayer that God will once again spare our beloved
Islands during this 2019 Hurricane Season.

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