ROSEAU—The Dominica government has ordered the evacuation of the entire village of Petite Savanne, south east of here, where five more bodies were discovered on Sunday, following the passage of Tropical Storm Erika last Thursday.
Environment Minister Dr Kenneth Darroux, who is also the parliamentary representative for the area, said the search is continuing for 14 others “and presumed dead in the village that bore the brunt of Erika’s fury as it passed across the island.
The authorities say they expect the death toll to rise as more areas cut off by the storm become accessible. So far 25 people have been confirmed dead.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit, in a radio broadcast late on Sunday night, said Petite Savanne had been declared an unsafe area and that more than 100 people had already been evacuated from the village.
“Based on the prevailing situation at the time and having assessed the situation on the ground, recognising that we may very well have some (weather) systems approaching us, on advice a decision was taken to evacuate the residents of Petite Savanne,” Skerrit told the nation.
He said the exercise would continue and appealed to relatives of those being evacuated to assist in providing accommodation.
“I have been advised that most of the (109) people (evacuated so far) have been taken up by family and friends…and they are in a much safer environment.
“The evacuation will continue because the intention is to evacuate everybody who wants to be evacuated and to bring them into a much safer environment.
Petite Savanne continues to be completely cut off from the rest of the country…and the only way you can get in is by boat or helicopter.”
Skerrit said that the villagers understood the situation and were cooperating well.
Disaster management co-ordinator Don Coriette said priority is being given to the elderly, children and the sick.
Skerrit also said that the international community had responded well to the situation and that a number of countries had pledged assistance.
“All I will say at this time is that there is a tremendous outpouring of goodwill and assistance for Dominica from virtually every part of the world,” he said, adding that he was also pleased that Dominicans were coming out and joining in the rebuilding of the island.
He said utilities have been restored in several communities across the country and a number of roads which were inaccessible following the storm are now open to motor vehicles.
He said the two major telecommunication companies operating here had reported at least 50 per cent of service being restored.
“We will continue to engage the entire world community because we are going to need the entire world community to assist us in getting out of this situation,” he told the nation. (CMC)
About Erika
Tropical Storm Erika was the deadliest natural disaster in Dominica since Hurricane David in 1979. The fifth tropical cyclone and fifth named storm of the season, Erika developed from a westward-moving tropical wave while well east of the Lesser Antilles.
Late on August 28, the storm made landfall in Dominican Republic near the border of Barahona and Pedernales provinces.
Several Leeward Islands including Guadeloupe, Puerto Rico and Haiti experienced heavy rainfall during Erika’s passage.
Overall, the island nation was left with tens of millions in damage and was set back approximately 20 years in terms of development. (Wikipedia)