BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) — The Barbados-based Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) on Wednesday called on Caribbean countries to be fully prepared for the 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, which gets underway on June 1.

CDEMA Executive Director Elizabeth Riley reminded regional media practitioners that in 2024, the Caribbean had to deal with Hurricane Beryl, a category five storm, within days of the start of the hurricane season.

“These are some of the possibilities that the climate scientists have told us were going to be possible, as climate change and now we are seeing it and there is a likelihood that we will continue to see these types of very different patterns in how the cyclones are taking place and we are also seeing a lot of diversity, not only in the cyclones, but also in severe weather.

“So rainfall patterns have very much changed, we are seeing a lot more intensity in the rainfall events which means that in essence we get a lot more rainfall occurring in shorter periods of time and last year we saw major flood events taking place over one day periods,” she said, noting that such a situation had occurred in Grenada.

“The point I am emphasising here is that it is important for us to follow the science, listen to the guidance from the climate scientists and also to learn from previous events. So with Beryl happening so early in the season in 2024, all of the national emergency coordinators across the region are very mindful of this.

“We had specific discussions on this during the after-action review of Beryl. There was a consensus of the requirements for us to ensure that preparedness was not only completed but completed early.”

Riley told reporters that in some countries, a “political direction” had been given to complete those preparedness actions as early as the end of April.

“So countries are very much on this matter. They are taking the necessary actions to make sure the national systems are ready, and there has been a lot of political support behind the need to have the systems ready as well,” she added.

There are 21 named storms for this year’s hurricane season, and last week, regional forecasters predicted a “potentially intense, but erratic” 2025 Atlantic hurricane season, saying the frequency of Saharan dust will affect cyclone formation even as they noted that storms could form between these dust episodes.

Climatologist at the Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology (CIMH), Cédric Van Meerbeeck, said CIHM has 70 per cent confidence in its forecast that there will be 19 named storms, with nine becoming hurricanes and four of them major hurricanes, but noted that the forecast will be updated later in the hurricane season.

He noted that the annual average is 14 named storms, with seven becoming hurricanes and three major hurricanes, during the season that runs from June 1 to November 30.

Riley said as the region prepares for the hurricane season, it is once again reminded of its vulnerability and the ongoing need for preparedness.

“The predictions are clear the season is expected to be above average activity as indicated by the Colorado State University’s early forecast delivered in early April,” she said, noting that their experts say the region can anticipate 17 named storms with nine expected to become hurricanes and four likely to reach major hurricane status.

Riley said that over the past year, CDEMA has engaged several of its stakeholders, beefing up preparedness for the hurricane season, including signing on Wednesday agreements with the United Kingdom and the Haitian-based Sunrise Airways.

“More over we are pleased to announce the establishment of the Caribbean Emergency Telecommunications Team (CETT), which will further enhance our coordination capabilities in times of crisis and ensure that we could coordinate effectively across the region,” she said, adding that the number of rapid needs team specialists has been increased to 38.

But she acknowledged that there is a need to “continue to build resilience, hazard preparedness…in ensuring that the Caribbean remains strong in the face of adversity”.

“As we move forward into this hurricane season, I urge all of us, governments, citizens and partners to remain vigilant and proactive in your disaster preparedness actions. Governments will do their part, and it is equally important for us as individuals to take responsibility for our personal preparedness and preparedness for our own families”.

The CEMA executive director said that the decision by the United States (US) to implement new policies is having an impact on the region’s preparedness for the season, saying “actions by the United States government have had a global impact and the Caribbean as a part of the global community, has also been impacted”.

“Specifically, it has affected our participating states at the national level,” she said, making reference to the Regional Disaster Assistance Programme, one of the “key flagship programmes of the Bureau for Humanitarian Affairs”.

“That was placed initially on stop, and that programme would normally have provided significant…particularly training to our participating states as they prepare for the hurricane season.

“Countries have pivoted and CDEMA has been supporting the effort to identify alternative partners for support for training, and national governments have also re-examined budgetary allocations to make sure that those deficits have been treated,” she added.

“With respect to the regional level, CDEMA in itself has not been very directly affected. We did not have any specific direct projects with the government of the United States, but there had been some implications from the perspective of partnerships,” she said.

She said based on the region’s responsive mechanism, the Barbados-based entity works “collaboratively with a broad group of entities, development partners, private sectors, UN (United Nations) agencies, etc, and the implications of the US action have had ripple effects across a number of our partners…”

She said the partners have been having discussions within their “own spaces as to how those impacts are going to be treated” noting that “there have been some support coming back on stream from the government of the United States which have given us an indication that there will be some level of capability across those institutions to support the regional support mechanisms”.

Riley also noted that CDEMA would be restricted in its activities in Haiti, where the security situation, occasioned by gang violence, is unstable.

“The prevailing factor in Haiti at this time is related to security, and even in situations where we have no conflict, humanitarian actions are only undertaken when the security situation is stable, and in this regard, I believe that the situation in Haiti would really have to be looked at from the perspective of the situation at the particular time.

“Right now we know that there is a security issue in Haiti (and) this is being discussed extensively at the political level within Caricom (Caribbean Community) and as a Caricom institution we also take out guidance from the political directorate with regards to the actions that we will be required to take, if necessarily related to Haiti,” Riley said.

She said a security assessment would have to be done if Haiti is impacted by any weather system this year.