The Daily Herald
James: Flood warning should have been issued based on Friday’s rain
By The Daily Herald
Aug 2, 2005, 16:17 UTC

PHILIPSBURG - A flash flood warning should have been issued for the island based on Friday’s rainstorm, which dumped two inches of water on the island, senior meteorologist Ashford James told The Daily Herald on Monday. Friday’s rain was pointed out by him as the catalyst for Saturday’s flash flooding.

“Rain and other weather situations occurring on Friday warranted a flash flood watch,” he stated, adding that the ponds had already been full and the ground saturated from this torrential rain.

Based on these factors, necessary actions could have been taken and networking with the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) could have been done, he said. At a press conference, also on Monday, Lt. Governor Franklyn Richards acknowledged that there had been “miscommunication” between the Meteorological Office and the EOC about the issuance of a flood advisory. (See related store for more details)

James, who has 35 years in the field and was the Met Office Chief, is no longer responsible for the issuance of weather forecasts and warnings for the island due to internal issues at the Met Office, which he described as victimisation aimed at removing him from office. He has not been handling the issuance of forecasts since September 29, 2004.

At present, the island’s weather forecast is being handled by meteorologists from Curaçao, which poses a problem because these persons “are not familiar with our weather situation, so the effects of the weather locally are not easily recognised.”

While forecasting is not easy, knowledge of the local situation would have helped during the chain of events that led to Saturday evening’s flash floods that claimed one life thus far, he continued.

With James’ position at the Met Office in limbo, a weather observer from within the office has been appointed acting chief and is being assisted by the meteorologists from Curaçao in the execution of his job. In the hierarchy of the office, the chief meteorologist oversees the general operations, followed by the meteorologists and weather observers.