The Tribune

By SANCHESKA BROWN

Tribune Satff Reporter

sbrown@tribunemedia.net

TROPICAL Storm Kate battered parts of the central and southeast Bahamas yesterday, one month after those islands were devastated by the passage of Hurricane Joaquin.

The fast-moving storm’s maximum sustained winds increased yesterday evening to near 50mph as it passed east of the northern Bahamas but gathering strength as it left. All Tropical Storm warnings for the Bahamas had been discontinued last night.

According to Meteorologist Neil Armstrong, the centre of Kate passed near Cat Island early yesterday before passing over Eleuthera in the afternoon and Abaco last night. The storm was expected to turn toward the north-northeast.

In response to the storm, the Ministry of Education closed schools in Cat Island, San Salvador and Eleuthera yesterday. In addition, Bahamasair suspended flights to San Salvador until 9am on Tuesday. The Glass Window Bridge in North Eleuthera was also closed, due to the weather conditions, which make the structure impassable in such instances.

Cat Island Administrator Jackson McIntosh told The Tribune that the island experienced heavy rain and wind early yesterday but by noon “everything went back to normal”.

“We started to feel the effects of Kate early in the morning but around midday things started clearing up. We closed the schools and government offices in preparation and it’s a good thing we did because it was bad at one point,” Mr McIntosh said.

“Despite the bad weather, we had no flooding, the rain levels were not that bad. Most of the rain stayed over the ocean. So we didn’t feel the brunt of it and we didn’t get winds over 25 knots from what I can see. So we were lucky, so far there have been no reports of damage. We were proactive because of the lack of safeguards from Joaquin so this time we erred on the side of caution.”

According to the US National Hurricane Centre, Kate is being steered between a subtropical high pressure system over the central Atlantic and a trough of low pressure over the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

After the storm makes its expected turn northeast today, Kate is expected to strengthen some more as it moves through an area with low to moderate wind shear and over warm water. Winds speeds of 60mph are expected today and 65 mph by tomorrow. Forecasters still expect Kate to be absorbed into an extra tropical low-pressure system by Friday.

On Sunday, residents in the southeast and the central Bahamas were put on alert for heavy rain and strong gusty winds. Residents in those areas were also told to be prepared to take quick action in the event a tropical storm warning was issued. In a statement, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) reported that it was partially activated as it monitored the new developing system.

In October, Hurricane Joaquin pummelled Acklins, Crooked Island, San Salvador, Long Island, Ragged Island, Mayaguana and Rum Cay, affecting the lives of an estimated 5,000 residents. Residents in those areas are still reeling from the devastation wrought by the category four storm.

On Sunday night, NEMA Director Captain Stephen Russell and a core team were on standby to continue to monitor the system and to keep the public abreast of the situation.