This year’s hurricane season is shaping up to be one of the most active ones in recent times, according to the seasonal outlook issued yesterday by NOAA’s Climate Prediction Centre. It said that an “active to extremely active” hurricane season is expected for the Atlantic Basin and underscores the importance of having hurricane preparedness plans in place.

April 28, 2010….Director of the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS) Philmore Mullin represented Antigua and Barbuda at the first meeting of the CARIFORUM/OCT/FCOR/EU Disaster Management Task Force recently held in Trinidad and Tobago.

The meeting was convened at the Hyatt Regency in Trinidad by CARIFORUM in collaboration with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA).

Antigua and Barbuda has been chosen as one of the Caribbean countries to be visited by the 2010 Disaster Management Workshop series being conducted by the Baptist Health International Center of Miami. According to a press release from the centre, the workshop is being brought to the Caribbean region in light of Haiti’s recent earthquake in January of this year. In doing this, they have teamed up with Caribbean Central American Action (CCAA).

For three nights, the three hotels making up Antigua Resorts will be hosting special dinner events in aid of the people of Haiti.

Director-General of the Antigua and Barbuda Red Cross (ABRC), Gerald Price, said that the Verandah Resort and Spa, one of the three hotels, has held a fund-raising dinner and they have already received a cheque of $5,000.

BRADES, Montserrat (February 11, 2010) – There was only minimal ash fall in inhabited areas as a result of a partial dome collapse at the Soufriere Hills Volcano on Thursday afternoon says a statement from the National Disaster Preparedness and Response Advisory Committee (NDPRAC).

“The John A. Osborne Airport was temporarily closed because of the ash blowing to the Northeast and persons are encouraged to take the ferry if they have a delayed flight,” said NDPRAC spokesman Keith Dyett. “The hazard level remains at four.”

BRADES, Montserrat – No inhabited areas were affected by Friday’s volcano explosion, says Director of the Montserrat Volcano Observatory (MVO) Dr Paul Cole.
The full report reads as follows: “At 1:49 pm 5th Feb 2010 a vulcanian explosion occurred from the Soufriere Hills volcano. The event lasted seven minutes and sent pyroclastic flows mainly to the west of the volcano with pyroclastic flows rapidly reaching Plymouth and spreading across the sea for around 500m.