Two Days with Hurricane Fiona, Minister Musgrove reflects and reminds about preparedness 

By Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, May 2, 2023 – ‘Preparation is key,’ came the familiar but heartfelt refrain from Arlington Musgrove, Minister of Immigration and Border Services, as he spoke at the April 21st visit of the US National Hurricane Centre, Hurricane Hunter Aircraft and its crew.

Forgoing his prepared speech, the Minister described riding out Hurricane Fiona in his constituency of North and Middle Caicos last year.

“The reason I’m not going to read [my] speech is because I want to put emphasis on being prepared,” he said, “it was coming in at category one; you can imagine when it made landfall at category three. Before, hurricanes would just come and they go. Fiona stayed over North and Middle Caicos for almost two nights. Can you imagine hearing that sound – the trees falling, roofs going away for 48 hours?”

Musgrove has first-hand experience in countrywide disaster planning, having previously held responsibility for the Department of Disaster Management and Emergencies.

“I want us to start preparing for these hurricanes,” he said, “as soon as we leave, let’s start preparing, get the radios, get the lanterns because these things will come.”

His warning was reiterated by the Hurricane Hunter team which encouraged residents to prepare without waiting for a single hurricane, but for the season having all their bases covered by June 1st.