Weather Dept caught off alert

[NewsWhore]

Everyone in the DR seems to be caught off alert regarding Noel that surprisingly developed on Sunday into a strong storm. Anyway, this morning's Diario Libre A.M. page two column written by editor Adriano Miguel Tejada blasts the Weather Department (ONAMET) for not sound the alarm to the public about the onslaught of TS Noel. As recently as yesterday morning the weather office was talking of a "frontal system" that was causing constant rains since Saturday. The "frontal system" was baptized yesterday at 2 o'clock in the afternoon as Tropical Storm Noel, with 50 mph winds and heading north. The note from the weather forecasters says that the "storm, located to the south of Hispaniola, is moving NNW at 5 mph and it is expected to continue its movement northwards for the next 24 hours." Tejada says that the note also warns of heavy rains over Hispaniola, Jamaica and the southeast part of Cuba" where rains of up to 20 inches can be expected. The Diario Libre editor says that the Dominican people were caught unaware by the storm, and no noticeable activity by the civil defense teams was evident since the storm arrived without warning over the weekend. While great efforts are being made to improve our meteorological service, each time we are surprised by a storm, there is reason for worry. These storms are not surprises. They are phenomena that evolve, that can be observed and predicted. Because of this there is no plausible explanation for the Dominican people to be trapped by some rains with unusual winds and nobody knows anything. The editor ends by letting the reader imagine what could happen: "With the absence of a national emergency alert system, if it wasn't for the 'little Virgin' that protects us...." (Note: Our Lady of Grace is the protector of the Dominican Republic, called the Virgin de la Altagracia).

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