Image - Wunderground.com
Tropical Storm Matthew has become a Category 2 hurricane, according to the United States National Hurricane Center. With sustained winds of 120km/h, the cyclone has taken a very unusual route, passing through Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao, which are islands in the Dutch Caribbean that are outside the so-called "hurricane belt", that is, they are regions where these meteorological phenomena do not usually reach.
Thus, Matthew crossed the southernmost islands of the Lesser Antilles on Wednesday, on Thursday it became a Category 1 hurricane, and today Friday it has become Category 2. For the moment, and hopefully no more deaths will occur. you know that a person has died in the eastern Caribbean. It has also caused minor damage in Barbados, where it downed many trees and there were blackouts.
The Colombian government has issued a tropical storm warning for your coast, from Riohacha to the Venezuelan border. The threat of the hurricane created long lines at gas stations and supermarkets, and in Curaçao the parliamentary elections have been postponed until next week.
In this hurricane season in the Atlantic, which began on June 1, thirteen tropical storms have formed, of which five have become hurricanes:
- Alex: It was the first hurricane that formed in a month of January in the Atlantic since 1938, specifically on the 14th. It was category 1.
- Earl: A new Category 6 hurricane formed on August 1.
- Gaston: on August 22, this hurricane formed, reaching category 3.
- Ermine: It was formed on August 28, and it was category 1.
- Matthew: It became a Category 1 hurricane on September 29, and a Category 2 the following day.
La NOAA warned that this hurricane season in the Atlantic was going to be somewhat more active than normal, with the formation of 12 to 17 storms, of which 5 to 8 would become hurricanes, and between 2 and 4 major category hurricanes .