PM Issues All Clear Amid Beryl Damage Assessment

Prime Minister Philip J. Pierre issued an all-clear for utility companies to begin assessments and repairs Monday night and an all-clear for the rest of the country as of 5:00 am on Tuesday. Pierre said businesses and government offices were expected to reopen Tuesday and schools the following day. In addition, he announced that the Ministry of Education would release the CPEA results on Wednesday. Parliamentary representatives and the 18 District Disaster Management Committees were gathering and relaying information from various constituencies to the National Emergency Operations Center for a preliminary islandwide damage assessment. But in the interim, there have been confirmed reports of of fallen trees, blocked roads and waterways, water, power and telecommunication services outages and widespread damage to banana farms. The Prime Minister also disclosed ‘significant damage’ at the Soufriere Waterfront and Cemetery area, flooding in Laborie, particularly at the Cross Over Park and waterfront areas. In addition, Pierre said the Vieux Fort Police Jetty has been completely destroyed. Meanwhile, in the north of the island, there were landslides and loss of homes in the Hospital Road and Faux-a-Chaud areas with reports of damaged roofs island wide and displacements of families in Anse La Raye and Canaries....