St Peter fared well during storm

In the aftermath of Tropical Storm Dorian, residents in the north of the island are grateful that their prayers and those of Minister of Labour and Social Partnership Relations Colin Jordan have been answered.

Earlier today, the St Peter MP and officials from the parish’s District Emergency Organisation were hard at work, responding to reports of minor damage, fallen trees and power outages.

“I wanted protection for my constituents and my family and that is what we would have prayed for,” said Jordan, who on Sunday afternoon was invited by Prime Minister Mia Mottley to deliver prayers on behalf of the nation as the country prepared for the storm’s arrival.

Colin Jordan

“I think Barbados has been spared what could have been the more intense effects of Tropical Storm Dorian. I am very happy that we didn’t and I am happy that we were spared what was possible,” he told Barbados TODAY.

A major priority for officials in St Peter was the situation of Beverley Lopez, a resident of French Village who lost a small section of her galvanise roof during strong winds, which affected the community the night before.

“Last night was a very frightening experience. It was the first time I was ever scared of anything, because we were just sitting down watching and listening to the television and I heard a frightening sound,” Lopez recalled.

“When I checked, I realised the roof was lifting so I called CERO [Central Emergency Relief Organisation] to get some help, but they said they couldn’t help until they got the all clear. So they didn’t come until this morning.”

Lopez was at home with two children and three adults when the rain started pouring through the ceiling and into the bathroom. However, quick work from a carpenter friend got the roof back on in less than 30 minutes.

“We just have to give God thanks again because God has been so good to us here in Barbados. Some people are saying he’s a Bajan, but no, he’s not a Bajan. I believe he had mercy on us, because he knows right now this country can’t go through any hurricane or anything like that, because as the Prime Minister has said before, there is no money to do things. So we are just living by the grace of God and hoping things would go okay and no accidents or disasters would happen,” added Lopez, who had a similar experience during Hurricane Tomas, in 2010.

Chairman of the St Peter District Emergency Organisation Dave Hurley meanwhile lauded emergency personnel in the parish for their commitment during and after the passage of Dorian.

“We had fallen tree branches, which we cleared just after we were given the okay for the essential services to go on the road.

“We didn’t have the number of rooftops off and the number of trees we were expecting to see down. We also didn’t have the type of flooding we expected in St. Peter,” he said as officials removed and cut up a tree that had fallen on a house in Six Men’s, St. Peter. They also arranged for the Ministry of Transport Works (MTW) to move debris from the streets.

Minister Jordan expressed relief that no flooding had affected low lying areas like Speightstown and said work still needed to be done to clear some of the waterways leading into the northern town for the future.

“We need to get that sorted, so we will be working on that during the rest of this week, because we are still in the hurricane season and we don’t know what is ahead of us,” said Jordan.
kareemsmith@barbadostoday.bb