Filenews 21 December 2021 - by Angelos Nikolaou
Storm "Carmel" finally came to Cyprus on the weekend with rain, storms, snow and winds, but in no case showed wild moods, nor did it cause difficulties and damages, except for isolated incidents. The Department of Meteorology last Friday afternoon issued an emergency weather report, valid from Saturday at 9 p.m. until Monday at 1 p.m. According to the relevant warning, the phenomenon was expected to be a combination of prolonged rain and locally strong storms with total rainfall ranging between 85 and 110 millimetres in 24 hours a day.
This provision led to the alert of all the services involved to deal with possible dangers, but at the same time it terrified the citizens who preferred to postpone the exits for the Christmas shopping and be confined to the house. The fact that there were no disasters and floods, despite the forecast, instead of satisfying, caused dissatisfaction among the citizens, but also among the shopkeepers who saw an opportunity to fill their shops with shoppers in the last weekend before Christmas going to waste, referring to the wrong forecast on the part of the Department of Meteorology. The criticisms were intense on social media from citizens mainly because the much-publicized storm of the last few days that was expected to hit Greece, Cyprus and Israel did not bring disasters, which led the competent services of the three countries to give the storm the name "Carmel". Citizens on Facebook and Twitter criticized the Department of Meteorology for misguided prediction, others humorous in a mood, and another to sharply criticize.
The director of the Service, Kleanthis Nikolaidis, said that the meteorological models suggested since last Thursday that the expected weather in the period from midnight on Saturday until the afternoon of Monday, would be significant, with high rainfall, prolonged and at the same time intense thunderstorms, strong winds and a significant wave height. According to Mr. Nikolaidis there was no combination of these phenomena, but the Meteorological Service had an obligation to issue an "orange" warning. He explained that the warnings were not issued to panic citizens, nor to scare them, but to protect them by providing proper information for scheduling work and avoiding unnecessary travel. He added that the prognosis was not wrong, but it may have been overstated. He noted that the confinement of citizens at home had a beneficial effect, since road collisions and accidents were avoided due to the poor condition of the road network, landslides and tree uprooting.
According to Mr. Nikolaidis, based on the forecast models, the barometric low centred on the area of Rhodes that was moving towards Paphos showed that there would be three parameters, winds, prolonged storms and heavy rains. These phenomena hit Cyprus, but not at the same time as expected, but at different times. As for the next few days, however, until Christmas, the weather seems to do us a favour and be sunny.
To the question of whether the "orange" warning issued met the criteria, the answer is, of course, but the system is not as strong as it was predicted. Any winds were only local in coastal areas up to 7 Beaufort. The storms are also limited, fortunately without causing any problems.
The pleasant thing is that "Carmel" within the last three days gave an average rainfall in the free areas of 44 millimetres, covering 100% of the normal rainfall for the month that reaches 105.6 millimetres. That is, rainfall in the free areas in the last three days amounted to almost 42% of normal for the whole month. However, the average rainfall for this year's hydrological year is at 74% of normal.
According to the data, the highest rainfall rates compared to the normal one for the month are recorded at Larnaka airport station with 169% followed by Frenaros station with 118% and Stavros tis Psokas with 116% of the normal one for the month. The greatest rainfall during the last three days was recorded at the station of Stavros tis Psokas with 71 millimetres, followed by Platania with 69.1 and Pano Panagia with 60.
Fire Brigade: Six calls in two days
Only six calls nationwide were received by the Fire Brigade in the 48 hours that passed to deal with incidents due to the low barometric "Carmel". Specifically, the Fire Brigade responded to a towing of a vehicle that was trapped in a flooded road in the Nicosia district, as well as to two or three cases where the grates had to be opened on a public road in Paphos. It also intervened in the case of a basement house that had been flooded, but also for the transportation of materials in the Famagusta district. It is noted that after the briefing received by the Meteorological Service, the Fire Brigade worked the three days with the maximum staff, as well as the off-duty personnel were on standby.
Cyprus Civil Defence spokeswoman Olivia Michaelidou said things went smoothly, adding that no serious incidents were observed. However, she continued, we were fully alert and alert so that we could respond immediately if any incidents occurred. Asked about this, Ms. Michaelidou said that in Limassol the Civil Defence responded in some areas, but there were no serious incidents and the response was made for preventive reasons, as she said, and to assess the situation.
POVEK: Meteorology killed the bazaar
The protests of the shopkeepers were intense from the call of the Department of Meteorology to consumers to stay home on the weekend and to limit visits and gatherings in open spaces. Speaking to "F", the general secretary of POVEK, Stefanos Koursaris, said that the Department of Meteorology "killed the bazaar" and without seeking it directed consumers in a specific direction for their shopping.
According to Mr. Koursaris, the excessive calls for bad weather conditions, combined with the measures for the pandemic, led consumers indoors and small and medium-sized shopkeepers justifiably to protest, since the opportunity to make purchases was missed in the last weekend before Christmas. He noted that the statements that preceded it and that eventually fell out, had a significant impact on shopkeepers all over Cyprus.
Delay in drilling in plot 10
In plot 10 of the Cyprus EEZ, is the floating drilling rig Stena Forth, where it will carry out the test drilling of Exxon Mobil - Qatar Petroleum. However, as the Director of the Meteorological Service, Kleanthis Nikolaidis, said, the adverse weather conditions delayed the start of the confirmatory drilling. As he mentioned in the EEZ area there is a very strong southwest wind current, which reaches 10 Beaufort, thus complicating the procedures required to start the drilling.
