GREAT BAY (DCOMM):--- Disaster Coordinator Winston Salomon, Head of the Island's Office of Disaster Management, would like to commend the clean-up initiative that was undertaken by the Community Police and Jazz G and O.C.C.O. of the Cole Bay district in preparation for the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season that opens on Saturday, June 1.
The first clean-up took place on May 18. Another clean-up is planned for Saturday, June 8 along Welfare Road, Windsor Road, and Cay Bay Road from 6:30am to 2:30pm.
The final clean-up will be on Saturday, June 15 on Welfare Road, Corner Road and Bill Folly Road. Those persons interested in volunteering their time to help with the community district clean-up should call 588-4035 or 550-7747. The removal of garbage is being carried out by Leonard Enterprises.
"These types of initiatives are very much welcome, and I am calling on all the districts to mobilize and clean-up. We need to see similar initiatives in the other residential districts. We need all stakeholders working together," Disaster Coordinator Winston Salomon said on Wednesday.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States Department of Commerce (NOAA) released its forecast for the upcoming six-month hurricane season, and the forecast calls for an active or extremely active season this year.
The NOAA forecast says there is a likelihood of 13 to 20 named storms, of which seven to 11 could become hurricanes, including three to six major hurricanes (category 3, 4 or 5) with winds of 111 miles per hour or higher.
"I am once more appealing to the Sint Maarten community to prepare for the hurricane season. We do this every year and more than the majority of the country knows exactly what they have to do before the hurricane season starts.
"The Office of Disaster Management always prepare for every season regardless of the forecast, because we all must remember that all it takes is one storm to make it a bad season," Disaster Coordinator Salomon said on Wednesday.
Storm names for the 2013 season are: Andrea, Barry, Chantal, Dorian, Erin, Fernand, Gabrielle, Humberto, Ingrid, Jerry, Karen, Lorenzo, Melissa, Nestor, Olga, Pablo, Rebekah, Sebastien, Tanya, Van and Wendy.
The 2013 hurricane season runs through November 30.
