A small delegation of the Netherlands Royal Meteorological Service KNMI visited Saba on Tuesday, March 21 and Wednesday, March 23 for talks with the stakeholders and to give a presentation on the work that the KNMI does for the Caribbean Netherlands.
Jeroen Dooijenburgh and Jos Diepeveen of KNMI had meetings with Island Governor Jonathan Johnson, Crisis & Disaster/Public Order & Safety Advisor Manager Lune Zijnen, Harbor Master Travis Johnson and Kai Wulf of the Saba Conservation Foundation.
An informative session was held with the government stakeholders in which Dooijenburgh and Diepeveen explained the work that the KNMI does for the islands, and in particular for St. Eustatius and Saba, since they are located in the hurricane belt.
The KNMI issues general weather forecasts, marine forecasts, as well as tropical storm/hurricane warnings, warnings for seismic activities and tsunamis. The KNMI can also issue a warning in case of extensive rainfall to caution people against possible rockslides.
Diepeveen gave a presentation to the stakeholders on how storms and hurricanes develop, the system of scales to indicate the strength of tropical storms/hurricane scales, and the ways that the KNMI communicates with local authorities before and during tropical storms and hurricanes.
The KNMI, which has a collaboration with the National Hurricane Center (NHC) in the United States, issues tropical cyclone bulletins that contain condensed, clear information that the local stakeholders can work with.
The visit of the KNMI delegation was mainly to further strengthen the relations and to exchange information with the local stakeholders. Dooijenburgh and Diepeveen last visited Saba three years ago.
People who have questions with regard to the work of the KNMI and/or hurricane preparedness can send an email to publicsafety@sabagov.nl.
