By the time most readers see this the major effects of what was once Hurricane Beryl on the local weather may have subsided. Early forecasts had been a bit tricky and prompted justified disaster-management preparations.
The system was first expected to degenerate into an open trough before it reached the Eastern Caribbean, then to possibly do so yet a hurricane and finally approached the area as tropical storm, but was further downgraded just as it neared the territory closest to its direct projected path – Dominica. The latter subsequently changed its Tropical Storm Warning to a Watch, while the other advisories in the region were all dropped.
However, the remnants continued to produce maximum sustained winds of 45 miles per hour with higher gusts and of tropical storm force out 45 miles from the former centre, mainly to the North-Northeast. This too warranted vigilance on the part of St. Maarten where the Met Office still foresaw winds of up to 30 miles per hour, especially as the estimated distance at which the disturbance was to pass to the South varied between 180 and 120 miles.
The size of Beryl that had been called both “tiny” and “miniature” by the National Hurricane Center in Miami and the speedy 26 miles per hour at which it entered the Caribbean Sea contributed to lessening the impact. It was clearly not a huge rainmaker either, so the decision to ultimately allow business as usual in both the public and private sectors on Monday made sense.
Very little happened in the end, but precautions and security measures were taken, while emergency shelters had been opened. Especially after what the island went through last September, that was the only right thing to do.
