Tropical Storm Kate maintaining strength while moving toward the Northwest Bahamas

OFFICIAL BAHAMAS TOURISM COMMUNIQUÉ: TROPICAL STORM KATE AND THE ISLANDS OF THE BAHAMAS - Monday, November 9, 2015 at 5 pm EST

NASSAU, THE BAHAMAS, November 9, 2015 /EINPresswire.com/ -- NASSAU, The Bahamas - Tropical Storm Kate is maintaining its strength while moving towards the Northwest Bahamas. Tropical Storm Warnings remain in effect for the islands of the Northwest and Central Bahamas, including Grand Bahama, Abaco, Andros, Bimini, The Berry Islands, New Providence, Eleuthera, The Exumas, Cat Island, Long Island, Rum Cay and San Salvador.

The Bahamas is an archipelago with more than 700 islands and Cays spread over 100,000 square miles. Therefore, while some of the islands may experience tropical storm conditions, others are not being affected. A Tropical Storm Warning means that tropical storm conditions could affect the mentioned islands within 12 hours. At 1 pm, the center of Tropical Storm Kate was located near latitude 24.9 degrees North and longitude 75.7 degrees West, or about 17 miles Northwest of Arthur’s Town, Cat Island, 25 miles East of Rock Sound Eleuthera, and 115 miles Southeast of Marsh Harbour Sandy Point Abaco and 89 miles East of New Providence.

Tropical Storm Kate is moving toward the Northwest near 15 mph. A turn toward the North is expected tonight, followed by a turn toward the North-Northeast on Tuesday. On the forecast track, the center of Kate is forecast to pass near or over Eleuthera this afternoon and over Abaco tonight. Maximum sustained winds are near 45 mph with higher gusts. Additional strengthening is forecast during the next 48 hours.

Residents in the Warning area should ready themselves for strong gusty winds and heavy rains, which could result in flooding in low lying areas.

NEMA Partially Activates

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) partially activated the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) to closely monitor the movements of Tropical Storm Kate and its potential threat. A core team from NEMA administrative staff and the Department of Meteorology will be stationed at the NEOC to monitor the system and ensure that proper procedures are followed.

Director of NEMA Captain Stephen Russell said Family Island administrators were contacted to make sure they met with local disaster committees on their level of preparedness and to have hurricane designated shelters open in the event of evacuating low lying areas.

Bahamasair Announcement

Bahamasair wishes to advise the traveling public that due to Tropical Storm Kate its San Salvador flight for today has been cancelled. Passengers will be accommodated tomorrow morning at 9:00 am, November 10, 2015. The airline also announced that further advisories regarding flights to Marsh Harbour and Eleuthera will be issued as new information from the meteorologist office is made available.

The next alert will be issued at 9 am on Tuesday.

Mia Weech-Lange
Bahamas Ministry of Tourism
561-655-1530
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