{"id":163445,"date":"2022-11-27T15:57:41","date_gmt":"2022-11-27T19:57:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/?p=163445"},"modified":"2022-11-27T15:57:41","modified_gmt":"2022-11-27T19:57:41","slug":"forecasters-predict-possible-flooding-in-the-caribbean-this-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/antiguanewsroom.com\/forecasters-predict-possible-flooding-in-the-caribbean-this-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Forecasters predict possible flooding in the Caribbean this Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Barbados-based Caribbean Institute for Meteorology & Hydrology (CIMH) is warning the region that recent heavy rains could continue into December and pose a risk for flooding during one of the most joyous seasons of the year.<\/p>

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\u201cThis year, flooding is a bigger risk in December than in other years,\u201d CIMH climatologist C\u00e9dric Van Meerbeeck told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) about the regional outlook for the dry season, which begins December 1.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI\u2019m not saying it\u2019s going to flood in your area, but what I\u2019m saying is keep checking the weather reports in your country to make sure that that doesn\u2019t happen to you, without you knowing about it.\u201d<\/p>

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Speaking at the Caribbean Climate Outlook Forum (CariCOF), taking place here through Friday, Van Meerbeeck cautioned that while Christmas was traditionally a period where people like to think joyous things and \u201cmight not always pay as much attention to the weather as we normally would during the hurricane season, for instance\u201d, heavy rains in December are not unheard of.<\/p>

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He reminded that in 2013, Christmas Eve floods led to death and destruction in St Vincent and the Grenadines and St Lucia.<\/p>\n

Van Meerbeeck said no major droughts are forecast for any part of the region during the upcoming dry season.<\/p>

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\u201c\u2026.That\u2019s a positive but, on the other hand, we\u2019re getting out of the wet season with soils that, in many places, are quite drenched. So that means that if in the next weeks we get a lot of rainfall, even though we\u2019re entering the dry season, we might still see flash floods wherever that extreme rainfall occurs,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

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