Strong winds cause freak accident

A utility pole in the Caravel Beach area snapped, crashing onto two parked vehicles yesterday as a result of strong gale forced winds.
Luckily no one was in the vehicles at the time, but both cars suffered considerable damages.
When The Freeport News arrived at the scene employees from the Grand Bahama Pow-er Company were busy assessing the damages and up until press time yesterday, it was unclear if electricity in the area was affected.
The strong winds experienced during the morning hours were a result of arctic winds from North America that are expected to continue until tomorrow.
Residents braced themselves for the cold weather yesterday and could be seen bundled in scarves, coats, gloves and hats.

Meteorologist from The Bahamas Weather Depart-ment, Godfrey Greene, reported that gusty winds reaching to about 32 knots were experienced during the early morning hours yesterday at about 8:30 and 9:20, about the same time the pole went down.

For today, Greene said that weather conditions are expected to improve slightly, but Grand Bahama will continue to experience frigid temperatures during the evenings and early mornings.

Winds, he said, would begin to diminish by early Thursday and are expected be around 15 to 25 knots. He noted that an advisory remains in affect for small craft boaters as sea swells continue.

A drop in temperature is also expected and according to Greene coupled with the wind chill, temperatures will feel much colder than they actually are.

"You can expect temperatures to be in the low to mid 40's then on Wednesday temperatures will increase but only slightly."

He explained that the arctic air will produce cold fronts for the surrounding islands and move toward the southeast Bahamas by late afternoon.

Temperatures are predicted to warm up by Friday reaching to about 70 degrees.

Meanwhile the Freeport Weather Department remains closed and there are still unanswered questions and much confusion surrounding the status of the Department which was closed down at the end of December in 2009.

The department was run by the Grand Bahama Airport Company, which is owned by the Grand Bahama Port Authority and Hutchison Whampoa group and was put in place to provide weather services for the Port Authority, Airport Company and the Group of companies.

Five meteorologists were left unemployed after the closure.

The meteorologists – three at least with a Bachelors degree, one with a Class II certification in Forecast meteorology and the other at entry level – were notified in late November 2009 that their services with the company was going to be made redundant effective December 31, 2009 in a letter.

Since then, nothing has been confirmed about their unemployment status being chang-ed, The Freeport News has been reliably informed.

In the meantime, The Baha-mas Department of Meteorology is responsible for servicing the entire Bahamas.

Grand Bahama 'fares well' despite heavy rain and wind

FREEPORT - Despite heavy rains and windy conditions, Grand Bahama "fared well" with no major flooding or property damage reported here on the island.

There were some large road puddles, but residents went about their normal routine and students returned to the classrooms on Thursday.

"We fared well and we were more prepared than we needed to be," Island Administrator Don Cornish told The Tribune on Thursday.


When the tropical storm alert was discontinued, Mr Cornish said that all their resources had already been activated and two shelters had been opened.

He reported that 10 persons sought safe haven at the two shelters located at the Eight Mile Rock High gymnasium and the St Georges' High gymnasium in Freeport.

"We were very much ahead of what was happening...and we did extremely well and I would give us a high passing grade; it was a good drill for us, the stakeholders and volunteers," Mr Cornish said.

Conditions

"We are pleased that conditions did not get worse and the population was spared."

One elderly resident had to be removed by Social Services officials when her house in the Eight Mile Rock area was flooded early Wednesday morning.

The tropical depression which formed near Cuba had upgraded to tropical storm Nicole, but it rapidly became disorganised and fell apart as it moved out of the area late Wednesday.

Mr Cornish said they had expected the heavy rains to cause some flooding at Pelican Point and South Riding Point in East End, and at the Fishing Hole Road because of the creeks in those areas.

"We had no major flooding problems in those areas, we only had some excessive water in the road but nothing serious," he said.

Fishing Hole Road has water on both sides and is prone to flooding usually when a storm moves in from the east of Grand Bahama.

Tropical storm Nicole was moving in from the west.

He said police officers were stationed at Fishing Hole as a precaution.

"There were reports circulating that the road was closed, but it was not closed. We had officers there on look-out so that if conditions got to a dangerous point they would be there to assist persons," he said.

Readiness

Mr Cornish said they were able to assess their readiness.

"Our lines of communication need to be strengthened, but in terms of our preparation we did extremely well. I think we have a good template to build on the future," he said.

Could tar balls hit western Bahamas Beaches?

AccuWeather.com reports pieces of the Gulf oil slick are breaking off and beginning to enter the loop current, possibly propelling tar balls towards beaches in the Bahamas and South Florida over the next several weeks.

Freeport and Grand Bahama Island, even Nassau, could be impacted by drifting oil pieces caught in the Gulf Stream current, which flows around the tip of Florida and passes along the western end of the Bahamas.

Assuming oil continues to spew from the broken well, AccuWeather.com meteorologists and various models suggest oil slick pieces cutting under the Florida Keys and heading towards Florida’s east coast by early next week.

Meteorologists foresee oil passing under Key West, Fla., possibly washing upon shores in Miami, and then heading north to Freeport, Bahamas.

A trajectory could also place oil pieces farther south, interacting with beaches along Havana, Cuba, then swinging wide through Grand Bahama Island.Currents Carry Tar Balls
The loop current exists as part of the Gulf Stream, which flows north between Cuba and the Yucatan Peninsula, and continues to flow north into the Gulf of Mexico before looping to the south and then east through the Florida Straits.

The danger of oil becoming wrapped in the loop current is the current’s Gulf Stream direction, which could carry oil, mostly in the form of tar balls, swiftly up the Atlantic Seaboard.

The Associated Press reported that a cap placed on the broken well last week is currently channeling more than half of escaping oil to a surface ship.

Upcoming Weather Conditions
The weather in the Gulf will remain warm and humid, with a shift in winds from the north-northeast earlier this week to a continuous southerly flow through the week’s end. This wind shift brings a renewed threat for tar balls showing up along Florida Panhandle beaches.

Southerly winds will be light and waves’ heights are expected to be 1-2 feet on Wednesday.

There were reports of tar balls washing up on Pensacola, Fla., beaches as early as last Friday morning.

What do the probabilities mean?
Below is a table that provides the probability of oil reaching specific locations. We will continue to make updates to the table as weather conditions and oil containment efforts develop.

For example, at Galveston Island during the next 30 days, there is a 10% chance of oil impacting coastal areas within that time period.

Over the next 120 days, there is a 35% chance of impact.

Please note, while the probabilities do take into account the AccuWeather.com Hurricane Forecast, the probabilities can change dramatically based on the strength and path of a hurricane moving through the Gulf of Mexico.