It is still early in the Atlantic Hurricane Season for tropical cyclones to make their way across the Central Atlantic and Caribbean area – from the African coast. It appears that it is also rare for these types of strong weather systems to enter the region in the month of July.
A tropical disturbance with gusts of wind, said to be 45 miles per hour, with moderate to heavy showers of rain, raked across Anguilla from the north-east on Wednesday, July 29, shutting down the public and private sectors. The stormy weather continued through the night before travelling across the Virgin Islands/Puerto Rico/Hispaniola region.
The rain was a welcomed blessing to Anguilla which has endured a long period of drought. The showers resulted in flooding in some low-lying areas and replenished ponds which, for the most part, had dried up, severely reducing bird life habitats on the island.
No structural damage was reported. In some areas of the island, the high winds toppled billboards and, in a few cases, trees were uprooted. A case in point was a section of the Sandy Ground main road where a fairly large tree fell down, blocking part of the road-way. It required heavy equipment to remove it.
No boats were reported as having been forced ashore. In many cases, owners either had them well-anchored or had brought them ashore well before the arrival of the inclement weather.
With most of the hurricane season still ahead, there is an ongoing need for all persons in Anguilla to continue to make the necessary preparations to secure property and life on the island.
In September 2017, Hurricane Irma wreaked havoc in Anguilla, destroying or otherwise affecting a number of private and public sector buildings including several tourism properties.
An assessment of the damage, done by the category 5 hurricane, estimated that it had winds of about 180 miles per hour and was the most powerful cyclone in the history of the Caribbean region. The damage in Anguilla was estimated at 275 million East Caribbean dollars and extensively impacted buildings, equipment, furniture, and landscaping.
