PM urges residents to give thanks that Beryl’s impact was not worse

Even as Hurricane Beryl ravaged the island’s fishing vessel industry, damaged several coastal assets and left at least two coastal roads impassable, Prime Minister Mia Mottley urged Barbadians to give thanks as the situation could have been much worse.

Speaking to the nation moments after the all clear was given following over 14 hours of the island being battered by rain, tropical storm force winds and hurricane force gusts, Mottley told the nation that in her wake, Beryl had sunk over 20 fishing vessels including the popular Jolly Roger and Dreamchaser party boats which both now sit at the bottom of the Harbour, and left several others with significant damages.

In addition, she pointed out that two areas of Highway 7 were impassable – between Blakeys and the new Caribee Hotel, and along Oistins main road where two small fishing boats are on the road. She urged people to avoid these areas.

“If you really do not need to be on the road, stay home. There is going to be significant clean up work where there has been damage, particularly in that Highway 7 area and in the areas of coastal assets and structures,” she stated.

Noting that Barbados had evaded the worst of the system which had passed 80 miles to the south, she said it was still too early to tell how widespread the damage to the housing infrastructure is. 

“So far, reports are of 40 homes with some kind of damage, roof loss, partial collapse or minimal like roof leaks. We expect that that number may increase because we have over 400 persons in shelters and now the all clear is given, some may return to their homes and find that it may have sustained damage,” she stated.

The PM pointed out that arrangements have been implemented for preliminary assessments to be done to those homes reported and encouraged any others to share the information with the relevant authorities.

Regarding the utilities, Mottley assured residents impacted by outages that both the Barbados Light and Power and the Barbados Water Authority were working to restore service within the next few hours.

She said the experience from Hurricane Beryl should be used as a building block as the island moves to become more resilient.

“This could have been far worse for us from the point of view that had we taken a direct hit or an even close hit we now know how bad the level of devastation could have been,” Mottley said, while speaking on the devastating impact the unprecedented weather system had on Grenada, Carriacou, Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines.

Urging Barbadians to pray for their neighbours, she also reminded them, “It’s not over” and urged them to pay attention to the next weather system, which is already on approach. 

In light of this, Mottley said discussions will happen later today as to whether the government will keep schools closed tomorrow due to their current state of being prepared as shelters.

“For those who have had damages to their houses or those who feel that their houses are vulnerable, we feel at this stage that we need to keep the shelters up. It is against that backdrop that later today in consultation with the Minister of Education and the Chief Education Officer, we will let you know whether there will be school on (Tuesday) or not, because one of the conditions of being able to having a Category One shelter is we had to shutter the schools and it may not make sense to take down the shutters if the system is going to be serious for 24 hours and then put them back up,” she stated.

The decision will be announced later today.