Ships Landing was almost entirely submerged as heavy rains from Hurricane Dorian overflowed the LaHave last year.
The Atlantic is in for an above average hurricane season this year.
The Canadian Hurricane Centre presented it’s hurricane season outlook for 2020, and noted current conditions of warmer water temperatures and lower rates of wind sheer could make for an above active season.
Canada could see an above average amount of storms this year varying in strength, said Bob Robichaud, Warning Preparedness Meteorologist with the CHC.
“What they’re calling for is 13 to 19 named storms,” he said, “Those are storms that are at least of tropical strength, and the average of those storms is 12 (per year).”
Of those storms, he said six to ten will be hurricanes, with the average being six per year, and three to six major hurricanes, with the average being two.
Robichaud also noted this will be the sixth season in a row where a storm has started before the official beginning of the season in June, as Hurricane Arthur made an appearance in the Atlantic earlier this week.
He also went over last years numbers, which were almost identical to their predictions, and discussed the three strongest hurricanes of the year – Dorian, Humberto and Lorenzo.
Robichaud said while the numbers are above average for this year, comparing them to previous years can get tricky.
“Prior to the start of the season, its impossible exactly where these storms will go,” he said, “You can have years that look exactly the same in terms of numbers, but they actually go to totally different locations.”
While hurricane preparations rarely change from year to year, Robichaud stressed the importance of not leaving those preparations to the last minute.
“I think this year, if anything, its going to be more critical to prepare,” he said.
“For the most part, people know what they need to do or get for an approaching storm. This year of all years I think you are not going to want to leave that until the last minute.
“My message is to have all those preparations in place early, so you don’t have to deal with these (long lines or rushing) as the storm approaches our coastline.”
