And Beryl being a category 5 hurricane in July has fast tracked this season. Normally, we wouldn't anticipate such a storm until August or September, so preparations would be a bit delayed. However, since NEMO needed to activate to prepare for Beryl, the national coordinator said it now allows them to be ready earlier in the season rather than later.
Daniel Mendez, National Coordinator, NEMO
"This has been, as the Chief Meteorologist had said, a learning lesson for us so we have been able to fast track many things like you said, things that would take a longer time. however, we have, with the support of our minister and our CEO, we have been able to push these things ahead and so I also want to thank them for their support and their leadership and interest in improving our system. So we will, as we have consistently been saying since the beginning of the season and before, that preparedness is really important. So the question we should be asking ourselves, if this system came out way, were you ready for it? And I think that's a good question and if you were able to say yes you were ready then you are really looking forward at this season. For those who cannot say I was ready, really again, it's time for you to take those measures and to start to improve so with us at NEMO, we are continuously improving, we are taking these lessons, we are internalizing them, and we are taking actions on those areas we see were weaker and we will strengthen those areas that we see can be much stronger. Clearly, in the districts, our district committees are very strong, they were prepared, they had been on the ground, they had been working for days in advance and so everything had been in place there and I want to continue to congratulate those district coordinators across the country who have been working diligently and working to ensure that our offices were prepared."
