Hurricane season 2013, so far…

Starting officially 1st of June, the hurricane season is a very important period of the year in Haiti.

Very important for agricultural reason as rain is more than needed for the second harvest of the year. Very important as Haitians from abroad do choose the summer holidays period to visit their homeland. Very important as the period is full of festivities!

Between re- born “Flower Carnival”, regular parties and summer beach parties, opportunities of celebrating are numerous! Communal week parties are also organized in all the main cities of Haiti one after the other during summer time!

This year for example Petit Goave did celebrate the 350th anniversary of its creation mid-August with the most famous singers and bands of Haiti, including President Martelly himself, leaving his hat of president on the occasion to jump back into artist Sweet Micky ’s jacket!!!

Despite all these festivities nobody can forget we’re in the heart of the hurricane season… the temperature is really high and humidity as well even if this year we’re missing… rain!!!

Announced as a hurricane season to be feared with 18 tropical waves predicted and from which 8 should be given a name… meaning being at least a tropical storm, a terrible destructive hurricane for the worst!

Haiti has a tight history with hurricane for being on the crossroad of the 3 main trajectories used by hurricanes since they have been officially recorded! In one way or the other it always looks like storm and hurricane are meant to come towards Haiti! Coming from Africa either through the Lesser Antilles or north of them or coming from the South over Jamaica most of the storms and hurricanes somehow manage to get to Haiti!

Being really mountainous and completely deforested with less than 2% of the territory occupied with trees, Haiti is extremely vulnerable to floods and landslide when heavy rains!

So far this year Haiti is lucky!

2 tropical storms in a row, called Chantal and Dorian, built up early in the West Atlantic Ocean with ideal trajectory to hit Haiti… Twice in a row, the storm did collapse just before reaching Haiti! Chantal especially which collapsed only around 50 kilometres before hitting southern Haiti! Lucky with storm, sure! But really unlucky with rain!

The lack of regular rain in most of the parts of the country make specialist fearing a drought or at least such poor autumn harvest that many area might have to face a severe food crisis in the coming months.

As for storm… well, the season is far from being over especially if we think back into 2008 when successively Fay, Gustave, Hanna and Ike did hit Haiti between August 16th and September 6th and that last year Sandy hit Haiti on October 24th …

The hurricane season is so definitely not over!