ROSEAU, Dominica – Electricity was slowing being restored to several parts of Dominica yesterday as authorities began the task of counting the cost of the damage caused by Tropical Storm Chantal 24 hours earlier.
Public Works and Infrastructural Development Minister Rayburn Blackmore, speaking on the state-owned DBS radio Wednesday, said the authorities will be assessing the damage “and at the end of the day we should have a better report”.
Blackmore said some areas across the island were still experiencing difficulties as a result of the various landslides, fallen electricity poles and destruction to some homes.
But he praised the efforts of the workers with the Dominica Electricity Services (DOMLEC) on restoring electricity to consumers.
“I really want to commend the efforts of the DOMLEC staff, a number of communities were without current yesterday and the linesmen undertook the dangerous work in the heavy winds and rains to ensure that electricity was restored.
“I have been so advised that most of the communities have been restored and have access to the national grid,” he added.
DOMLEC’s public relations Adenia Bellot-Valentine confirmed that several areas were back on the national grid adding “we still have a few areas still without electricity …but we are having some issues with transformers.
“There may be some pockets within some of the big areas we have restored between now and last evening,” she said, urging consumers affected to call the lone electricity company.
Many schools remained closed on Wednesday but workers were expected to report for duty after being sent home early on Tuesday, as Tropical Storm Chantal headed out into the Caribbean Sea and setting its sights on Haiti and the Dominican Republic.
The Miami-based national Hurricane Center (NHC) said Wednesday that Chantal was weakening and may be degenerating into a tropical wave.
The storm which is 140 miles south of the Dominican Republic and a tropical storm warning has gone into effect for Haiti, Turks and Caicos and the southern Bahamas. (CMC)
