‘Because God is selectively a Trini, that waste of time storm, palanced to the north and wiggled its bumper directly in between Trinidad and Tobago, sparing both islands a direct hit’
FORECAST (noun): A calculated prediction or estimation of future events such as weather.
By Alicia Chamely
I felt it necessary to define Forecast as it dawned on me this week that many people do not quite understand what it is, especially regarding weather warnings.
I blame our education system.
On Monday we were put on alert for the POSSIBILITY that we MAY be hit by a severe weather disturbance.
As such, on Tuesday schools were closed and many businesses did the right thing and shut shop early to allow their staff to get home and prepare. People acted intelligently and stocked up on water, food, candles and other storm survival items. We went home, secured loose objects, battened down the hatches and waited for the show to begin.
Because God is selectively a Trini, that waste-of-time storm, palanced to the north and wiggled its bumper directly in between Trinidad and Tobago, sparing both islands a direct hit.
Hoorah! We were spared! No deaths, some damage, but a lot less than it could have been had the storm directly stomped upon us.
Now you think we would have been happy, but nooooooooooo. Trinis took the opportunity to beat down our grotesquely underappreciated meteorologists.
I mean, how dare they make us prepare for bad weather and then don’t ensure we get battered. Just wasting our time with their fancy radars and atmospheric jargon. If you “predict” a storm, there better be a storm.
Again, let’s look at the vocabulary used “estimation”, “prediction”, and “forecast” – all which do not mean “definitely”, “100%” or “guaranteed”.
Weather is fickle, what may appear to be coming one way, may catch a vaaps and swing in another direction. It is flux, ever-changing,and the most we can do is prepare for the worst.
The reaction to the storm missing us is just another example of how impossible it is to please some Trinis, whom, no matter what, will never be satisfied.
Speaking of the unattainable satisfaction of Trinis, I had to shake my head when everyone got vex the next day when KISS said due to storm preparations their production had been interrupted and some establishments would not be getting their usual deliveries on Wednesday.
I mean, what was KISS supposed to do? Keep their employees locked up in their plant during a national crisis so Roger could have his loaf of bread ready in the morning? And imagine the uproar that would have occurred if KISS chose not to send employees home early.
You can’t have it both ways.
I will say though the best and most concerning aftermath of the storm were the wackadoodle conspiracy theories that were let loose online.
Apparently, the Government controlled media was ordered by the Ministry of Misinformation to lie to us and tell us the storm was going to hit us to distract the public from issues arising with the Attorney General, Foster Cummings and to justify the increase in not only flour prices but fuel and food prices in general.
Keep the masses distracted so we can raid the treasury and grow stronger from their suffering! Muah Ha Ha!
Then there were those rumours that it was put out to distract us from the prime minister being away.
Can someone remind the prime minister he was elected to run the country not travel all over to rub shoulders with foreign diplomats and seek medical care abroad? I mean he is always boasting about our nation’s first-class health sector, so shouldn’t he be using it?
I digress, back to the issue at hand. I am glad we weren’t hit by the storm because if we have learned anything from the great blackout, eternal WASA woes and annual flooding, it’s that our national infrastructure is not equipped to deal with the devastation that can occur as a result of a natural disaster.
And kudos to our meteorologists and members of the media who were out there working their hardest to inform the population about what was happening and what needed to be done.
Stormy Misinformation
‘Because God is selectively a Trini, that waste of time storm, palanced to the north and wiggled its bumper directly in between Trinidad and Tobago, sparing both islands a direct hit’
FORECAST (noun): A calculated prediction or estimation of future events such as weather.
I felt it necessary to define Forecast as it dawned on me this week that many people do not quite understand what it is, especially regarding weather warnings.
I blame our education system.
On Monday we were put on alert for the POSSIBILITY that we MAY be hit by a severe weather disturbance.
As such, on Tuesday schools were closed and many businesses did the right thing and shut shop early to allow their staff to get home and prepare. People acted intelligently and stocked up on water, food, candles and other storm survival items. We went home, secured loose objects, battened down the hatches and waited for the show to begin.
Because God is selectively a Trini, that waste-of-time storm, palanced to the north and wiggled its bumper directly in between Trinidad and Tobago, sparing both islands a direct hit.
Hoorah! We were spared! No deaths, some damage, but a lot less than it could have been had the storm directly stomped upon us.
Now you think we would have been happy, but nooooooooooo. Trinis took the opportunity to beat down our grotesquely underappreciated meteorologists.
I mean, how dare they make us prepare for bad weather and then don’t ensure we get battered. Just wasting our time with their fancy radars and atmospheric jargon. If you “predict” a storm, there better be a storm.
Again, let’s look at the vocabulary used “estimation”, “prediction”, and “forecast” – all which do not mean “definitely”, “100%” or “guaranteed”.
Weather is fickle, what may appear to be coming one way, may catch a vaaps and swing in another direction. It is flux, ever-changing,and the most we can do is prepare for the worst.
The reaction to the storm missing us is just another example of how impossible it is to please some Trinis, whom, no matter what, will never be satisfied.
Speaking of the unattainable satisfaction of Trinis, I had to shake my head when everyone got vex the next day when KISS said due to storm preparations their production had been interrupted and some establishments would not be getting their usual deliveries on Wednesday.
I mean, what was KISS supposed to do? Keep their employees locked up in their plant during a national crisis so Roger could have his loaf of bread ready in the morning? And imagine the uproar that would have occurred if KISS chose not to send employees home early.
You can’t have it both ways.
I will say though the best and most concerning aftermath of the storm were the wackadoodle conspiracy theories that were let loose online.
Apparently, the Government controlled media was ordered by the Ministry of Misinformation to lie to us and tell us the storm was going to hit us to distract the public from issues arising with the Attorney General, Foster Cummings and to justify the increase in not only flour prices but fuel and food prices in general.
Keep the masses distracted so we can raid the treasury and grow stronger from their suffering! Muah Ha Ha!
Then there were those rumours that it was put out to distract us from the prime minister being away.
Can someone remind the prime minister he was elected to run the country not travel all over to rub shoulders with foreign diplomats and seek medical care abroad? I mean he is always boasting about our nation’s first-class health sector, so shouldn’t he be using it?
I digress, back to the issue at hand. I am glad we weren’t hit by the storm because if we have learned anything from the great blackout, eternal WASA woes and annual flooding, it’s that our national infrastructure is not equipped to deal with the devastation that can occur as a result of a natural disaster.
And kudos to our meteorologists and members of the media who were out there working their hardest to inform the population about what was happening and what needed to be done.