CINWS gears up for 2025 hurricane season
(CNS): There are still more than eleven weeks to go before the official start of the 2025 Atlantic Hurricane Season, but given that storms can form well before 1 June and with climate change making regional weather patterns increasingly unpredictable, local weather experts are already preparing for the season. On Monday, the National Hurricane Center issued its first tropical outlook in 2025 for a disturbance in the Atlantic, and while the system failed to develop, it serves as an early warning to be prepared.
In alignment with its mission to ensure the safety and well-being of all three Islands, the Cayman Islands National Weather Service (CINWS) has already held a pre-hurricane season workshop.
“The safety of our residents is our top priority,” said John Tibbetts, Director General of CINWS. “It is imperative that we continually evaluate the effectiveness of our systems, especially regarding the monitoring of weather patterns and the timely dissemination of information.”
Representatives from the Cabinet Office Portfolio, including the Strategic Innovation Unit, CINWS and the Department of Communications, worked on identifying gaps in the current systems and exploring improvements to weather monitoring and communication strategies. The team looked at lessons learned from last season and assessed existing procedures. Updates to operational plans and strategic initiatives and enhancements to communication strategies for disseminating critical information were on the agenda.
Chief Meteorologist Kerry Powery said the work won’t stop there .“We are committed to addressing additional action items with other key stakeholders and closing any gaps ahead of the 2025 hurricane season,” he added as he urged everyone to stay informed and be prepared ahead of the season.
While officials have not yet expressed any concerns about cuts to staff and resources at the US National Hurricane Center, there has been considerable chatter across local social media channels about the impact this could have on the information that the Caribbean region relies on during the season.
The agency is on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as an area for cuts. Hundreds of employees, including some of the top meteorologists and researchers in the US, were fired last month, part of a broader elimination of probationary employees by billionaire Elon Musk and his team at DOGE.
Dr Andrew Hazelton is one of the NHC’s Hurricane Hunters who has been fired. Part of the crews that fly deep into powerful hurricanes to collect data on the storm’s power and direction has told the UK press the loss of his job and some 800 others at NOAA will make things less safe as the improved forecasts that come out of the NHC, which everyone relies on in the storm season, may no longer be as accurate or as readily available.
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Category: Science & Nature, Weather
So all these people will be focusing on “enhancements to communication strategies for disseminating critical information” and “ monitoring of weather patterns”?? No joke?
I want to hear how exactly Cayman is PREPARING for hurricanes! Not how residents prepare, but how Government and its agencies prepare! What exactly they are doing to save lives and properties, efficiently and effectively protect and restore essential infrastructure.
It’s how we were raised. We were raised to use verbose and nebulous civil service nonspeak. You can always tell when it’s being used, because it creates sentences which normal people cannot say without taking a breath. Those tendencies were passed down from our British-honouring decendents.
Like you, I would like a flowchart of activity/response, so we all know where to go and what to do and what to bring, and which people are in control of what areas, and their contact numbers. By now, everyone should know to have a bugoutbag/box or other grab-and-go kit, including all your meds and other medical/hygiene needs. That becomes a bit of a bugger when trying to get HSA to give you a few months worth of your meds. We need to work on that.
I feel confident that the CINWS and their allies will do their best to keep us informed and provide necessary contact numbers. Right? That’s all we can ask of anyone, that they should do their best. This is a really good team.
They are confusing preparedness with the weather monitoring!
“The safety of our residents is our top priority,” I get nauseated when I hear that
“It is imperative that we continually evaluate the effectiveness of our systems…” empty words with no meaning
“…especially (
) regarding the monitoring of weather patterns …” the most stupid statement that has nothing to do with actual safety of residents. The year is 2025 and everyone monitors weather patterns with smartphones
“…and the timely dissemination of information…”. This statement is even more stupid than the one above.
So what is Preparedness?
making sure all buildings are hurricane resistant. Old buildings are reinforced and elevated when it is possible. Government allocates funds for free buildings inspection to make sure they are built to withstand hurricane-force winds and flooding and provides assistance with hazard mitigation retrofitting to residential and commercial properties. Adding a “third nail” to hurricane straps (also known as truss straps) significantly enhances roof-to-wall connections, improving hurricane resistance. Assist residents with securing homes with shutters or impact-resistant windows.
authorities develop and implement evacuation plans, identifying evacuation zones and routes, and ensuring the availability of shelters.
utilities strengthen infrastructure by clearing tree limbs, inspecting poles, upgrading to stronger materials, and using infrared technology for inspections
Utilities crews are on standby, equipment is ready and supplies are stocked up . They trained to use drones to quickly assess damage and speed up the restoration process.
Rescue teams are properly and regularly trained, rescue equipment is ready and in good repair, fuel volumes are sufficient for the rescue operations and access to it is secure..
All vulnerable and living alone residents identified in advance and assisted with evacuation to shelters in accordance with developing situation. They are assisted with 30-day supply of medications. In Florida, you can get early prescription refills for a 30-day supply even if you recently filled them if you reside in a county under a hurricane warning, and a state of emergency is declared.
This is what I wanted to see in this article…not the usual blah blah blah
Excellent choice—Option 4 is the perfect blend of absurdity, corporate overreach, and hollow grandeur. Here’s the final version, fully integrated and polished with Option 4 as the capstone:
⸻
A new hurricane season is on the horizon—and with it, the Cayman Islands National Weather Service is reportedly “gearing up.”
Gearing up—that sacred ritual of preparedness, wherein bureaucracies solemnly arrange their clipboards in formation and conduct a deeply symbolic review of protocols last updated during the previous geological age.
What did you expect?
Implementable solutions?
Cross-departmental cooperation?
A bold review of policies guided by empirical evidence and planetary logic?
You ask for transparency?
You demand accountability?
You seek… logic?
Then you have strayed into fiction, my friend. Into the realm of heresy.
When it comes to the Cayman Islands Government, all of the above are met not with implementation, but with ritual incantation.
You shall hear the holy phrases:
“We are monitoring the situation.”
“We remain committed to review.”
And the sacred, eternal: “Lessons will be learned.”
But never—never—will you see the spell of functional governance cast upon this land.
Lightning flickers on the horizon.
A distant storm murmurs its approach.
And so, the season begins.
Not with readiness.
But with hope disguised as a 37-slide PowerPoint presentation entitled “Strategic Multi-Hazard Resilience Pathway 2047,” featuring animations, no action items, and a concluding slide that reads: “Next Steps: TBD.”
⸻
Postscript:
If a storm wipes away half the island, rest assured—
a committee will be formed to determine the diameter of the raindrops
and whether they aligned with policy guidelines.
Action, after all, is far more dangerous than long sentences used on a Powerpoint presentation that won’t get read, published or – Emperor forbid – released to the public !
A new hurricane season is on the horizon—and with it, the Cayman Islands National Weather Service is reportedly “gearing up.”
Gearing up—that sacred ritual of preparedness, wherein bureaucracies solemnly arrange their clipboards in formation and conduct a deeply symbolic review of protocols last updated during the previous geological age.
What did you expect?
Implementable solutions?
Cross-departmental cooperation?
A bold review of policies guided by empirical evidence and planetary logic?
You ask for transparency?
You demand accountability?
You seek… logic?
Then you have strayed into fiction, my friend. Into the realm of heresy.
When it comes to the Cayman Islands Government, all of the above are met not with implementation, but with ritual incantation.
You shall hear the holy phrases:
“We are monitoring the situation.”
“We remain committed to review.”
And the sacred, eternal: “Lessons will be learned.”
But never—never—will you see the spell of functional governance cast upon this land.
Lightning flickers on the horizon.
A distant storm murmurs its approach.
And so, the season begins.
Not with readiness.
But with hope disguised as a 37-slide PowerPoint presentation entitled “Strategic Multi-Hazard Resilience Pathway 2047,” featuring animations, no action items, and a concluding slide that reads: “Next Steps: TBD.”
⸻
Postscript:
If a storm wipes away half the island, rest assured—
a committee will be formed to determine the diameter of the raindrops
and whether they aligned with policy guidelines.
Action, after all, is far more dangerous than long sentences used on a Powerpoint presentation that won’t get read, published or , Emperor forbid , released to the public !
Hopefully we are fully prepared cause we might not have NOLA