Minister of Home Affairs and Information Wilfred Abrahams has identified gaps in the country’s early warning system in which hours passed before emergency broadcasts from official channels and partners reached the population.And the minister used a second national consultation on the government’s Early Warning for All (EW4ALL) initiative on Monday to urge disaster managers and emergency organisations to speed up their plans for an early disaster warning strategy, warning of what looks to be one of the most active seasons on record.“A follow-up study that was undertaken by [the Meteorological Services] realised that it took over two hours for the majority of Barbadians to actually receive the message; over two hours to get to 50 per cent, because . . . we put the message out, everybody did what they were supposed to do. They broadcast the message and then they resumed playing music, or whatever else, and did not broadcast the message again.“It eventually got around by social media, but the point is yes, people did whatever it was they were supposed to do, but it was not enough. So these things are not theoretical exercises for us, because the practical consequences of a failed programme or the facility are too dire.”Addressing the workshop’s opening at the Courtyard by Marriott, Hastings, Abrahams noted that the Director of Meteorological Services Sabu Best and other met experts have long predicted that in the face of climate change and other noted changes in weather patterns, the island should be prepared for an extended storm season.