A Nation Mourns
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A Nation Mourns

By TDN Wire Staff
August 29 2015 11:10 A.M

A church on the banksof the Roseau river partially destroyed.

Roseau, Dominica (TDN) Today marks the thirty-six year anniversary of Hurricane David, which up to this past Thursday was the storm that had caused the most deaths in Dominica’s recent history.

However, the Nation’s attention has turned to Tropical Storm Erika, which inundated the island with up to ten inches of rain within five hours and triggered mudslides and flash flooding resulting in the presumed deaths of some 40 persons.

Up to Saturday morning rescuers were frantically searching for up to 20 persons still missing in the village of Petite Savanne. Already, the lifeless bodies of 12 people have been pulled from the rubble. Elsewhere around the country 8 other individuals were confirmed to have died including two young children and their grandfather in the village of Good Hope.

On Friday evening prime minister Roosevelt Skerrit addressed the nation and expressed his sorrow at the tragic loss of life. He also announced that a Reconstruction Committee would be formed consisting of the 21 elected members of Parliament. Their first meeting was held at 8:00 A.M on Saturday morning.

Two days after the passage of the storm, several areas of the country remain cut off from the capital city of Roseau after several connecting bridges were washed away. There is no pipe borne water in the capital as well as in several communities across the island.

Telephone service has been restored in some areas while several rural communities remain without power. The main airport, Melville Hall, which was severely flooded remains closed and all flights into and out of Dominica has been cancelled. Authorities believe that it will take several days to get the airport up and running.

Meanwhile, LIAT the main carrier out and into Dominica is allowing persons who had already booked their flights to redo the booking through Guadeloupe, Martinique or St Lucia. Travelers can utilize the ferry service between those islands and Dominica to complete their journey.

Elsewhere on the island certain communities cut off from the capital have been reporting water and food shortages. Efforts are currently underway to coordinate the efforts of persons in the diaspora and official agencies that are mobilizing to provide relief supplies.

In the meantime the grim work of recovering the dead continues as a Nation continues to count the cost of what might very well be the costliest storm in its history.

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