Barbados back to normal

 

ALL is well in the land after the passage of Tropical Storm Matthew, which threw Barbados into a state of alert over the past few days. The system, which was upgraded from a tropical disturbance to a storm before making landfall in Barbados on Wednesday, passed with no major issues, according to Prime Minister (Ag.) Richard Sealy.
 
Speaking during a media briefing at the Department of Emergency Management (DEM) yesterday after the all-clear was given, Minister Sealy stated that he was thankful that the island was spared the worst of the event and took the opportunity to extend prayers and best wishes to neighbours in the region, who were yet to be passed. 
 
“So far, the reports that we have suggest no injuries and no loss of life and that is something we are quite thankful for. Events of this nature all too often sometimes see tragedy reaching households, and mercifully, we have not had that to deal with. A damaged roof can always be repaired, but of course, a life cannot be replaced and we are genuinely thankful that we can report that situation this morning,” Sealy said.
 
Noting that the National Emergency Operations Committee (NEOC) had been active for about 72 hours, he thanked the group for their tireless work during the passage of the system and announced that as at 8 a.m. yesterday, only 63 reports had come in to the DEM. Listing 24 fallen trees, seven reports related to utility poles, nine power outages, nine reports of damage to houses and eight reports of flooding, Sealy said that all agencies for rehabilitation works were advised and assessing the respective situations. The Urban Development Commission and the Ministry of Transport and Works also paid visits to areas such as Murphy’s Pasture and New Orleans and as far as Deacons and Headley’s as these places are notorious for drainage issues and are particularly susceptible to flooding.
 
After the all-clear was given in the early hours of yesterday morning, Sealy said that everything was expected to be back to normal with all roads clear and open. He also said that both the air and sea ports were operational since 8 a.m. Businesses and government departments were expected to be back online as well, with the public school system as the only sector to be on hold. He explained that day-care centres, nurseries, primary and secondary schools, the Barbados Community College, the Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic and the Erdiston Teachers’ Training College all remained closed yesterday.
 
With several of the schools playing a role as public shelters, most of the shelters would have been closed with the exception of Hillaby Turner’s Hall and Lester Vaughan, which were both occupied overnight on Wednesday into Thursday. As such, there were only four occupants island-wide in Category 1 shelters.
 
The Barbados Transport Board gradually resumed services from as early as 7:30 a.m. and was anticipated to return to full force by midday yesterday. The Ambulance Service hotline number – 511 – went offline, but is now back in operation and polyclinics were slated to resume normal service at midday with emergencies taking precedence. All public hospitals were also operational and Sealy said that he was awaiting further reports to the total value of damage caused by Tropical Storm Matthew. (MP)

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