St Vincent counting loses

KINGSTOWN, St Vincent (CMC) – Several communities remained cut-off today as Vincentians continue to count their human and material losses as a result of the slow-moving low level trough that battered the island for more than 48 hours.
Unconfirmed reports said that the bodies of two people had been found and that the search was still continuing for at least two other people reported missing. So far there have been nine confirmed deaths from the floods associated with the heavy rains and winds that began battering the island on Christmas Eve.
The National Emergency Management Organization (NEMO) reported that several communities remain cut-off due to damaged bridges and blocked roads.
“Vehicular traffic cannot enter or leave the North Windward community of Sandy Bay, and several blockages from landslides are preventing access to communities in North Leeward. The Caratal bridge is damaged, and a Bailey by-pass bridge in Colonarie was washed away,” NEMO said in a statement posted on its website.
It said that the Central Water and Sewerage Authority (CWSA) is continuing its assessment and that 50 per cent of consumers are without pipe borne water. CWSA said that some consumers would be without water “at least until Saturday”.
NEMO said that a number of houses have been destroyed or damaged and that it was providing sleeping bags, comfort kits and jerry cans to those affected.
The Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC) correspondent Kenton Chance, who has travelled to the Buccament, one of the worst-hit areas, quoted one official at a shelter as saying that “people are coping with the situation”.
He said guests at the Buccament Bay Resort had been evacuated and the search was still continuing for one of the workers swept away by floodwaters.