Dominica ‘DEVASTATED’
AN unwelcome visit from Hurricane Maria on Monday night has left Dominica with “mind boggling” devastation, according to its Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit.
The category five hurricane made landfall just after 9 pm and a series of messages from Prime Minister Skerrit summed up the desperation experienced on the island, which was ravaged two years ago following the passage of Tropical Storm Erika. At that time Erika was described as the island’s worst disaster since Hurricane David in 1979.
In a series of live posts on his official Facebook page, the Prime Minister reported: “My roof is gone, I am at the complete mercy of the hurricane. House is flooding.” Shortly afterwards, he said that he had been rescued.
“So far the winds have swept away the roofs of almost every person I have spoken to or otherwise made contact with. The roof to my own official residence was among the first to go and this apparently triggered an avalanche of torn away roofs in the city and the countryside.”
The Prime Minister’s use of social media has attracted attention from far and wide, and was picked up by major cable networks during the hurricane.
“I am honestly not preoccupied with physical damage at this time, because it is devastating ... indeed, mind boggling. My focus now is in rescuing the trapped and securing medical assistance for the injured. We will need help, my friend, we will need help of all kinds,” he said.
“Initial reports are of widespread devastation. So far we have lost all what money can buy and replace. My greatest fear for the morning is that we will wake to news of serious physical injury and possible deaths as a result of likely landslides triggered by persistent rains.”
Speaking to the Cable News Network, Prime Minister Skerrit explained that the roof of his residence caved in and he was taken to safe ground by police officers. He noted that even though the building was strong, the unrelenting winds compounded by heavy rainfall proved to be too much for the structure.
When asked about the preparation level prior to the arrival of the hurricane, Prime Minister Skerrit said, “We did everything we could have done from a human standpoint. The citizens did all that we could in the circumstance,” noting that the country was bracing for a Category 3 hurricane but saw it rapidly intensify in a matter of hours.
Prime Minister Skerrit said he and other officials were waiting for daybreak to do an assessment of the damage. “Our first order of business will be search and rescue to ensure that we can account for every single resident who was on island during this devastating hurricane.”
Meanwhile yesterday other islands already started to feel the impact of Hurricane Maria including French territory Guadeloupe. The potentially catastrophic hurricane was continuing its west- north-westward path toward the Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico last night and today (Wednesday).
Ironically a number of persons fleeing the devastation wrought by Hurricane Irma were evacuated to Puerto Rico which is in line for a direct hit from Hurricane Maria.
According to the National Hurricane Centre, “Preparations against life-threatening storm surge and rainfall flooding and destructive winds should be rushed to completion.” (JH)
CAPTION: Some of the damage inflicted on Dominica by Hurricane Maria.
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CAPTION: This house was no match for Hurricane Maria.
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