Hurricane Ivan has been described as the most powerful storm to hit the Caribbean in 14 years.
And Minister of Tourism and Culture and Parliamentary Representative for West Kingstown Rene Baptiste is very grateful that no local person lost their life during the storm which ripped through St.Vincent and the Grenadines last Tuesday. {{more}}
SEARCHLIGHT caught up with Baptiste in Mahoe, Campden Park last Wednesday as she went about assessing the damage. The minister said that as early as possible, she visited areas in her constituency, which included Rose Place (Bottom Town), Lower and Upper Edinboro and Ottley Hall.
Minister Baptiste said that about eight persons suffered losses in Rose Place with two persons Julian “Plantain” Francis and Cennett Williams who lived on the beach losing their homes completely when waves washed them away. A coconut tree also fell on a wooden house located next to Nine Steps in Rose Place, which belonged to Elwin Howe and Jermaine Samuel.
Baptiste said that the fishermen in the area pulled their boats to safety, lining them in the road before the storm.
She said a number of places in Bottom Edinboro needed urgent fixing while in Top Edinboro, two people lost half of their roofs while another lost the side of a house.
The minister also reported that about eight persons in Ottley Hall suffered damage. Outside toilets were blown away she said. The Emergency Shelter in Largo Height was opened to assist
three persons. Baptiste said persons in this Emergency Centre were able to prepare hot meals because of the availability of a stove donated by
popular businessman
O.T Mayers a few weeks ago.
Batptiste also thanked the many volunteers who came out to help with the clean up and stressed that the Government is looking into the relocation of persons who lost their homes.
Meanwhile, nearby in Grenada, it is reported that three persons were killed as wind and rain swept through the island leaving most of the population without electricity, water and telephone services.
In a release from CNN, Meteorologist, Hugh Cobb of the U.S. National Hurricane Centre in Miami, said Ivan terrorized Grenada for some two hours.
The release further stated that Ivan strengthened even as it was over Grenada on Tuesday, becoming a Category 4 hurricane and becoming even more powerful as it headed across the Caribbean Sea, passing north of the Dutch Caribbean islands of Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao.
Based on the projected path Hurricane Ivan seems headed for Jamaica by Friday then on to Cuba by next day. If this Category 4 hurricane hits Cuba it could well prove disastrous as that nation is still recovering from the devastation of an earlier storm which has left the socialist state with major electricity shortages.
Hurricane Ivan is the first Category 4 storm to hit the Caribbean islands since Hurricane Luis in 1990. If Ivan hits Jamaica, it could be more destructive than Hurricane Gilbert, which was only Category 3 when it devastated the island in 1988.
Ivan’s sustained winds were clocked at 120 mph (193 kph) as it raced through the Windward Islands. But it strengthened to 140 mph (220 kph) with gusts just over 160 mph (258 kph).