The Atlantic Hurricane Season began yesterday and the weather experts tell us it will be a busy year in the tropics.
Belize's Chief Forecaster and Climatology Expert Carlos Fuller says there will be more activity than usual this hurricane season.
Carlos Fuller, Chief Meteorologist
"This year all indications are this is going to be another active hurricane season. In a normal year we have about 10 storms in which 6 of them develop into hurricanes and two of them intense hurricanes. This year the predictions are something like 14 tropical storms of which 9 will become hurricanes and three of them intense hurricanes."
How is global warming affecting the hurricane season this year especially since most people are saying we didn't even have a dry season this year?
Carlos Fuller
"Indeed the dry season this year mild as we had predicted that we would have had above average rainfall than normal. It is too early to say that global warming is already occurring and what it is doing us right now. It will take many decades for us to say yes we notice an increase in global warming in the 90s or whenever."
So your best advice to Belizeans this hurricane season would be:
Carlos Fuller,
"Be prepared. And two important things they need to do are first of all access your level of vulnerability: where do you live because if you live along the coast or low-lying areas recognize that you have to evacuate if a hurricane threatens. If you live on a high ground in the interior like Belmopan and San Ignacio and so on then recognize that people are going to come to you asking for shelter. But you need to prepare your house any way; get shutters, make sure your roof is properly anchored and so on to face the onslaught of the strong winds. Storm surge will be problem for you but the strong winds will also continue to be."
The hurricane season runs from June 1st through to November 30th.