At 2:22 p.m today an all clear was given for Barbados after the passing of Tropical Storm Tomas, which was later upgraded to a category one hurricane .
The all clear was given by Prime Minister Freundel Stuart during a Press briefing at the office of the Department of Emergency Management in Warrens, St Michael.
Stuart said the parishes hardest hit by Tomas were St George, St Philip, St Joseph, St Michael, St Andrew and St Lucy.
“I say hardest hit in terms of roofs blown off and in terms of palings blown down..” he said.
Stuart noted that over the last few hours, Barbadians have been experiencing adverse weather conditions which threatened since Friday afternoon and were strengthening as the evening wore on.
“The result of course of what happened last night is that there is a trail of destruction left. We have heard reports of roofs blown off, trees uprooted, palings blown down, of streets blocked, of utility poles down and of course utility services interrupted,” he added.
Stuart said that around 2 this morning the eye of the hurricane passed Barbados.
“That is not without significance because around 2 last Saturday morning we were dealing with another painful tragedy, the passing of the Prime Minister. So we had two horrible Saturday mornings around “2 o’clock to 2 30”.
Stuart said the weather conditions were posing particular challenges for the country’s emergency services.
“The department of emergency services, when it realised what was happening and what could happen, activated its resources, throughout the night and day, up to now, putting corrective mechanisms in place,” he added.
He said there were indications that Barbados will continue to experience rain at torrential levels for a little while with possibility of flooding.
“Therefore Barbadians will have to take all necessary precautions to minimise the impact of the flooding which can possibly take place if these rains continue”.
Full coverage of the passing of Tropical Storm Tomas in tomorrow’s SUNDAY SUN
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