With Hurricane Isaias approaching the Bahamas, residents again urged to prepare
Bahamas Prime Minister Hubert Minnis on Thursday appealed to Bahamians to take an approaching Hurricane Isaias seriously and “to prepare for the worse just in case.”
The National Hurricane Center upgraded Tropical Storm Isaias to a Category 1 hurricane at midnight. The storm is expected to cross the archipelago as as early as Saturday. Its heavy rainfall is expected to produce flooding and surges in parts of the low-lying country, which is still recovering from last year’s devastating Hurricane Dorian. A Category 5, Dorian battered the islands of Grand Bahama and the Abacos, where today some Haitian migrants are still living in tents and uncollected debris line the streets.
“We know from past and recent experience that storms could change course very quickly,’ Minnis said. “They can intensify rapidly as we saw with hurricane Dorian.. So I ask all Bahamians and residents to take this storm seriously and to make preparations.”
Addressing the nation late Thursday, Minnis announced that all government offices will close at noon Friday to allow persons to prepare. He also said that a scheduled lockdown of the country, imposed last week to stem the tide of rising COVID-19 cases, would be relaxed this weekend to allow supermarkets to stay open later and people to move about more freely.
But Bahamians, he said, will have to abide by a curfew as of 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. for the time being.
All of the decisions, Minnis said, are based on the advice of health and other experts who advise that a lockdown of the country, and Grand Bahama especially, will still be necessary following the passage of Isaias, if the Bahamas is to get control of is re-surging COVID-19 infections..
“My overriding priority is the safety and security of the Bahamian people and our residents,” he said. “Current indicators and data reveal that much stronger protective and mitigating measures are absolutely necessary and will have to be implemented.”
While the Bahamas initially contained the spread of the coronavirus, which causes COVID-19, it has seen a resurgence since fully reopening its borders on July 1. With the current situation “very fast moving and fluid,” Minnis appealed to the country’s youth saying while he has noticed that many are booking reservations at local hotels to wait out the storm, they should act responsibly.
“Use that time for security and safety please. Do not engage in a hurricane or Covid party. It will not help us and it can be devastating. We will see the after effects, if not in two weeks, possibly later,” Minnis said.
On Wednesday, Trevor Basden, the director at the Bahamas Meteorology department, told Bahamians that there was a high probability the tropical storm would not turn into a hurricane. But following Minnis’ address, he said, those forecasts were revived after the storm lashed the coastlines of the Dominican Republic and northern Haiti.
“We were quite confident that interaction with the mountainous terrain of Hispaniola and also the hilliness there of Puerto Rico would have weakened it,” Basden said. “But it strengthened from 45, 50 and 60 miles per hour at 11 a.m. this morning.”
As the storm crossed the Dominican Republic around 2 p.m., the Hurricane Center in Miami indicated a new circulation was forming just off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti.
“A new center,” Basden said, “is not usual but it happened.”
Basden said as of the 5 p.m. advisory, the storms track was technically going straight through the entire Bahamas with 75 miles-per- hour winds on Saturday, which automatically means it’s a hurricane.
Tropical storm force winds, he said, were expected over the island of Inagua in the southern Bahamas, and the nearby British dependent territory of the Turks and Caicos Islands.
The Bahamas, he said, can expect three to six inches of rain in the central and northwest Bahamas, and isolated totals of six to eight inches of rains in other parts. There could also be tornado activities along with swells and sea surges, Basden said.
With a Hurricane Isaias moving right through the archipelago, all of the 700 islands will be impacted by the system, which is expected to bring a lot of ran and produce flooding in streets of the capital on the island of New Providence.
Capt. Stephen Russell, the director of the Bahamas’ National Emergency Management Agency, said as of 6 p.m. the National Emergency Operations center had been partially activated to closely monitor the system. He said contact also has been made with local governments on the islands, and designated shelters have been activated. All will have to adhered to face masks, social distancing and other COVID-19 protocols, he said.
As of now, Russell said, there are no plans to evacuate anyone from any of the family the islands, but his agency is encouraging those living close to the coast to relocate to higher ground. Meanwhile all of the country’s shelters will be ready as of 9 a.m. Friday for any one who is “concerned about the integrity of their homes” to take shelter.
Russell also added that Royal Bahamas Defense Force vessels have been deployed with dry food, water and debris removing equipment to be taken to any affected areas.
“NEMA will continue to monitor the system until the ‘all clear’ is given,” he said.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 10:05 PM.
