The advice came from Acting Director of the Meteorological (MET) Services, Sabu Best, during the Department of Emergency Management’s 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season press conference at its headquarters at Warrens, St. Michael.

Mr. Best said: “Even though we are talking about tropical cyclones, last year we had a lot of significant rainfall events that caused a lot of flooding and most of them were unrelated to tropical cyclones. And obviously, we would have had a lot of damage and stuff from these excessive rainfall events, and … looking forward into this year is for rains to actually pick up, particularly around late August and September, and then the latter part of the year, as we move into La Nina.”

Highlighting what could happen in some parts of Barbados, in terms of excessive rainfall, particularly the central and northern sections of the island, he pointed out that it could also occur elsewhere.

Mr. Best added: “Now, this is not to say that the southern sections wouldn’t be impacted by any flooding; it is just these predictions.  It is actually predicting that it is more likely that you would have flooding or a higher probability, if you may, in the central and northern sections of the island.”

The Acting Director further urged residents and visitors to remain vigilant during this time. “We really want residents not only to be on the watch out or look out for tropical cyclones but also to be on the lookout for these flood events, in particular when we have these localised convective events, which can happen in quick time. In 30 minutes or less, you can have significant flooding and it could be life-threatening to flood at that,” he cautioned.