As if the development agenda of the Caribbean is not already packed with a host of imposing and in some instances, immediate challenges, weather forecasters at Colorado’s State University (CSU) are putting the region on notice that an “extremely active” 2024 Atlantic hurricane season is likely to cause countries in the region to have to ‘park’ some of the plans already listed on their development agendas to focus on what, in some instances, are likely to be significant life-threatening emergencies.
An article published in the Trinidad Guardian, recently, paints an intimidating picture of the potential consequences of what it says is likely to be an “extremely active” 2024 Atlantic hurricane season. The widely watched CSU forecast predicts five major hurricanes this year, with winds above 111 miles per hour that could directly affect a Caribbean region that has previously – and in more ways than one – been taught costly lessons by previous hurricanes. This time around, the CSU is pulling no punches about the likely severity of the anticipated ‘round’ of seasonal hurricanes, asserting that it anticipates what it describes as “a well above-average probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the continental United States coastline and in the Caribbean.”