A week or so ago, we saw the extensive and thorough preparations which took place (in the boardroom and on the ground) for the possibility of an impact from Tropical Storm Ida, although the most likely projection was for it to pass us by, and it did. The level of preparedness was self-evident, but we feel it is worth re-emphasizing.

There’s a saying that every time we make the same mistake again, the cost goes much higher. Well, what was abundantly clear this time around was that NEMO under this administration was determined not to make the same mistakes, which in

Without apportioning blame to anyone in particular, there was admittedly a costly mistake made at various levels in 2008, when everyone seemed to have underestimated the threat posed by a hardly defined system called Tropical Storm Arthur on the very first day of the Hurricane Season, the new administration having only taken office three months earlier.

By October of last year, when Tropical Depression 16 came our way, the level of alertness was clearly higher by far, and the preparations more extensive and thorough.

Tropical Storm Ida was as late as Arthur was early, many having concluded we were pretty much out of the woods as far as Tropical Season 2009 was concerned. But once that area of disturbance began developing in the South Western Caribbean, NEMO went on immediate alert, and never for one moment thereafter did we let down our guard. Thankfully, unlike a couple of our neighbours, we got no impact at all. But had we been hit, there can be no doubt we were as prepared as could be, which would certainly have minimized the impact.

Congratulations are certainly in order, to all who participated in the extensive and thorough preparations for the worst possible scenario, which thankfully did not materialize. It is manifestly clear that NEMO, under this administration, has come a long way from the days under the last administration when, in the aftermath of Hurricane Dean, folks kept looking for Mr. Nemo and he was nowhere to be found. This time, in whatever part of the country you were, Mr. or Miss NEMO was in your face. He or she was any of the thousands of public officers, volunteers, organizations and private individuals committing their buses, boats, dump trucks and other equipment and resources as part of a comprehensive plan of action that was already in its first stage of activation.

Nemo has come a long way, indeed. It is self-evident, but certainly worth re-emphasizing.