Antigua was spared the worst during the passage of Hurricane Irma on Tuesday night.
Prime Minister, Gaston Browne, wrote the following on his Facebook page:
“Thank God for his mercies and blessings. He has protected and spared us from the worst of Irma.
Thank God that there are no fatalities nor, hurricane casualties reported up to this time.
With all hands and deck, we now must focus on the recovery efforts that should be swift.
It should be business as usual within the next 12 -24 hours.
Once again, Give thanks and praise to JAH for his mercies and blessings.”
Meantime, the National Office of Disaster Services released the following statement on Wednesday morning:
“There’ve been no reports of deaths so far. Three persons sought medical attention at the Mount St John Medical Centre. They were for minor incidents.
We are presently trying to re-establish communication with Barbuda to get a clearer picture of the situation there. The last communication with Barbuda was about 12:30am. Before communication was lost we got reports of several buildings having damaged roofs to include the Police Station. The Barbuda Weather Station, monitored by the Met Office, recorded sustained winds of 119 mph and gusts of 150mph.
The preliminary report is indicating that damage across Antigua and Barbuda is minimal. We received feedback from the District Disaster Coordinators, who have already begun some assessment. An initial situation overview is being conducted which will give an indication of the damage and where pockets of damage are concentrated.
There were several reports of roof damage in Antigua – in areas like Crosbies, Fort Road, Clare Hall, Grays Farm and Pigotts – four roofs completely off.
In St George District – An access-way into Barnes Hill had to be cleared by removing a portion of a tree that fell across the road. In St Phillip South, they are in the process of making a quick assessment and will get an update on that.
In Freetown and Bethesda, a few trees and telephone lines are down.
In the Hodges Bay are few poles and telephone wires are down.
There was a report of a roof in the road close to Sunnyside and downed trees.
There was also a report of a container fire on Friars Hill Road. The Fire Department extinguished the fire.
Police conducted rescue operations in Crosbies, Fort Road and Whenner Road.”
Thañk God for spearing Antigua
Antigua was indeed fortunate. Some people in Antigua of all must have prayed a lot.
Thank God, the One and Only Creator and Ruler of the world, the just Judge spared Antigua the worst.
Who is Jah? Never heard of him. Do not know him nor as our God Almighty.
Big up Antigua jah always in control. Things will get better.jah Rastafarian
Thank God for His Mercy. They had an anxious night but they came through. A real miracle
Thank goodness. Rise up again Antigua, y’all will rebuild and get back on track in no time.