Barbados shut down early yesterday, as Barbadians rushed to shutter windows, purchase extra groceries and protect their homes from the fifth named cyclone of the 2021 Atlantic hurricane season.
“This is for real,” a concerned looking Prime Minister Mia Amor Mottley warned the country of a visit from an unwelcome guest due to arrive in the early hours of this morning – Tropical Storm Elsa.
“The most important things at this stage are the saving of lives and protection of property,” she said during a special press briefing at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre yesterday evening.
She and Minister of Home Affairs Wilfred Abrahams also warned Barbadians to stay off the street between last night and early this morning as winds 45 miles per hour and up were expected.
Director of Meteorological Services, Sabu Best, said the severity of Elsa’s winds could exceed the force felt two weeks ago when a freak system damaged more than 165 houses in just a few hours.
He forecast that the storm’s speed and trajectory would be hardest felt around 6 a.m. today, and mostly to the south of the island. (BA)
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