The 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season officially ends today, Tuesday, November 30, 2021.

However, we must remember that tropical systems can and do form in December as we saw in 2005 and 2007. On December 11th, 2007, Tropical Storm Olga formed and ultimately impacted the Greater Antilles.

The 2021 Atlantic Hurricane season will go down as the third most active, with 21 named storms, seven hurricanes, and four major hurricanes. That total is more than what was predicted by NOAA at the beginning of the season in May.

However, this year 21 storms were much less than 2020 with 30 named storms.There were four major hurricanes this season: Grace, Ida, Larry, and Sam. The strongest of them were Ida and Sam, which both reached Category 4 strength. Grace and Larry peaked as Category 3 storms.The strongest storm of the year was Hurricane Ida, with wind speeds of 150 mph at the end of August. The storm claimed the lives of at least 29 people across Louisiana and three in Mississippi, destroying businesses and neighbourhoods and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands.

Although, today marks the official last day of the 2021 Atlantic Hurricane Season, the Disaster Management Coordination Agency, DMCA is reminding residents that Montserrat is vulnerable to many other natural and man-made hazards such as earthquakes, extreme rainfall events, flash floods, landslides, fires, volcanic activities tsunamis and transportation accidents among many other events, therefore we must always be prepared for any emergency situation.

Additionally, residents must remain vigilant in fighting the coronavirus by continuing to practice good hygiene, wearing masks or face coverings and social distancing to prevent the virus from spreading.