Still reeling from the battering by Tropical Storm Erika on Thursday which left 20 persons dead and others missing, Dominica has declared nine special disaster areas and has begun evacuating residents of Petit Savanne to the capital Roseau.
Yesterday, the Windward Island which is reporting that 48 houses were destroyed and 84 damaged after the storm dumped over 12 inches of rain in 12 hours, issued a priority needs list. According to the Office of the St Lucia Prime Minister which has been in close contact with Roseau, the needed items include water pumps. chainsaws, power generators, lighting equipment, shovels, pick axes, wheelbarrows, ropes, hygiene kits, first aid kits, reflector vests, canned foods, milk, cereal and a range of other items.
The heavy rain sent torrents of water crashing down hillsides, unleashing landslides and sweeping people and homes away. Several main roads were severed by the debris-filed deluge.
A statement on August 30 by the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) said that the Canefield Airport near Roseau recorded 12.64 inches of rain in 12 hours. CDEMA said that the centre of the storm passed about 90 miles to the north of Dominica, which has a population of around 72,000, at its nearest point.
The nine special disaster areas are Petit Savanne, Pichelin, Good Hope, Bath Estate (Paradise Valley), Dubique, Campbell, Coulibistrie, San Sauveur, Petite Soufriere. As of August 28, CDEMA said that the Government of Dominica reported that 574 persons were homeless, 300 had been evacuated and 267 were in shelters.
Major loss of livestock was reported in the Castle Bruce area and the loss to tourism had been preliminarily put at EC$4,983,900.
CDEMA said that the regional response mechanism had been activated and this had seen a variety of assistance to Roseau from Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Grenada, Montserrat, St Lucia and Trinidad and Tobago. Guyana has also expressed its willingness to help Dominica to recover.
CDEMA said that support for Dominica has also been pledged by the Caribbean Development Bank, the Caricom Development Fund, the Caribbean Public Health Agency, the University of the West Indies, Canada, the European Union, France, the United Kingdom, the United States, Venezuela, Cuba, a range of UN agencies and the World Bank.
