Caribbean News
2023 Atlantic Hurricane Season over performs, record heat to blame
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
December 5, 2023 – On November 30th, we marked the close of yet another nail-biting, heart wrenching, roller coaster of an Atlantic Hurricane season and the National Hurricane Centre has ranked 2023 the season as fourth for ‘Most-named Storms in a Year.’
Initially predicted to be a lower than average season because of El Nino, the year smashed that early forecast and got active quickly crossing the finish line just short of earning a podium moment. In real life, finishing on top of the heap is a good thing, when it comes to Hurricane Seasons, not so much.
In early June alone there were two named storms in the basin. Specifically Brett and Cindy and while it is common to get a storm prior to the official June 1 start of the season, the Atlantic basin has never before recorded two named systems in the month of June, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Another crucial moment was the rapid formation of four storms back to back. Emily, Franklin, Gert, and Harold all materialized in a record-breaking 39 hours during the month of August.
Overall there were 22 tropical depressions in 2023 with 21 falling inside the parameters of the Hurricane season and
one in January. There were 20 named storms overall, seven of them becoming hurricanes (Don, Franklin, Idalia, Lee, Margot, Nigel and Tammy) and three major hurricanes: Category 4 hurricanes: Franklin and Idalia and Lee, which climbed to Cat 5 status.
Colorado State University had warned of a possible 18 named storms with as many as nine hurricanes and four major hurricanes in an updated forecast mid-season. In early 2023 they had previously predicted 15 named storms with seven hurricanes and three major hurricanes. CSU came closest with its prediction, which still underestimated what June 1 to November 30 would bring this year.
The increased activity was blamed on warmer sea temperatures. These temperatures happened in what is now on record as the ‘hottest year’ ever.
“The Atlantic basin produced the most named storms of any El Nino-influenced year in the modern record,” said Matthew Rosencrans, lead hurricane forecaster at NOAA’s Climate Prediction Center — a division of NOAA’s National Weather Service.
“The record-warm ocean temperatures in the Atlantic provided a strong counterbalance to the traditional El Nino impacts,” the NHC said.
Countries that suffered direct impact/landfall included St Vincent & the Grenadines; Bermuda, the United States, Canada, Antigua & Barbuda and Nicaragua. Other countries reported damage from passing hurricanes and tropical storms including Haiti, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Guadeloupe, USVI and the Turks and Caicos.
More than two dozen are confirmed dead across the Atlantic following flooding and other dangerous conditions resulting from tropical storm activity in the 2023 hurricane season, with property damage so far recorded at just over $3 billion.
In mid-November a surprising rainstorm (aka Tropical Depression 22) wreaked havoc in countries like the Dominican Republic where at least 30 people were killed in Santo Domingo due to shocking landslides.
Photo by Paul Dellegatto, Tampa Florida River Walk
By Deandrea Hamilton | Magnetic Media
October 14, 2025 – It’s being called political theatre — but for citizens, constitutional watchdogs, and democracy advocates across the Caribbean, it feels far more serious. Within a single week, two national parliaments — in Trinidad and Tobago and St. Kitts and Nevis — descended into turmoil as opposition members stormed out in protest, accusing their Speakers of bias, overreach, and abuse of parliamentary procedure.
For observers, the walkouts signal a deeper problem: erosion of trust in the very institutions meant to safeguard democracy. When Speakers are viewed as political enforcers instead of neutral referees, parliaments stop functioning as chambers of debate and start performing as stages for power and spectacle — with citizens left wondering who, if anyone, is still accountable.
October 6: St. Kitts Parliament Erupts
The first walkout erupted in Basseterre on October 6, 2025, when Dr. Timothy Harris, former Prime Minister and now Opposition Leader,
led his team out of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Assembly in a protest that stunned the chamber.
The flashpoint came as the Speaker moved to approve more than three years’ worth of unratified parliamentary minutes in one sitting — covering 27 meetings and three national budgets — without individual review or debate.
Dr. Harris called the move “a flagrant breach of the Constitution and parliamentary tradition,” warning that the practice undermines transparency and accountability. “No serious parliament can go years without approving a single set of minutes,” he said after exiting the chamber.
The Speaker defended the decision as administrative housekeeping, but critics were unconvinced, branding the move a “world record disgrace.” The opposition’s walkout triggered renewed calls for the Speaker’s resignation and sparked a wider public discussion about record-keeping, accountability, and respect for parliamentary norms in St. Kitts and Nevis.
October 10: Trinidad Opposition Follows Suit
Four days later, on October 10, 2025, the Opposition United National Congress (UNC) in Trinidad and Tobago staged its own walkout from the House of Representatives in Port of Spain.
The UNC accused the Speaker of partisan bias, claiming she had repeatedly blocked urgent questions, ignored points of order, and allowed government members to breach standing orders without consequence.
“The Speaker has failed in her duty to act impartially,” the Opposition declared in a statement. “Parliament is not the property of any political party or Presiding Officer.”
The dramatic exit was seen as a culmination of months of rising tension and frustration, with opposition MPs arguing that parliamentary rules were being selectively applied to silence dissenting voices.
Political analyst Dr. Marcia Ferdinand described the twin walkouts as “a warning sign that parliamentary democracy in the Caribbean is teetering on the edge of performative politics.”
“When chairs become political shields rather than constitutional referees,” she said, “democracy becomes theatre, not governance.”
A Pattern Emerging
While St. Kitts and Trinidad are very different political environments, both incidents point to the same regional fault line: the perception that Speakers — the guardians of parliamentary order — are no longer impartial.
In Westminster-style systems like those across the Caribbean, the Speaker’s authority depends not on power but on public confidence in fairness. Once that credibility erodes, parliamentary control collapses into confrontation.
Governance experts say the implications are serious: eroded trust between government and opposition, declining public confidence in state institutions, and growing voter cynicism that “rules” are flexible tools of political advantage.
Why It Matters
Parliamentary walkouts are not new in the Caribbean, but what makes these recent events different is their frequency and intensity — and
the regional echo they’ve created. Social media has amplified images of lawmakers storming out, with citizens from Barbados to Belize questioning whether the same erosion of decorum could be happening in their own legislatures.
Analysts warn that if this perception takes hold, it risks diminishing the moral authority of parliamentary democracy itself.
“Once opposition MPs believe the rules are rigged, and once citizens believe Parliament is just performance,” said one Caribbean governance researcher, “you’ve lost the most valuable currency in democracy — trust.”
Restoring Balance
Political reformers across the region are calling for tighter Standing Order enforcement, independent parliamentary service commissions, and training to strengthen Speaker neutrality. Civil society leaders say the public must also play its part by demanding transparency and refusing to normalize partisan manipulation of parliamentary procedure.
Whether these twin walkouts become catalysts for reform — or simply another episode of Caribbean political theatre — will depend on what happens next inside those chambers.
For now, democracy watchers agree on one thing: when opposition leaders feel the only way to be heard is to walk out, the entire democratic house — not just its Speaker — is in danger of collapse.
Angle by Deandrea Hamilton. Built with ChatGPT (AI). Magnetic Media — CAPTURING LIFE.
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