Dominicans living in St. Martin have weathered the fury of Hurricane Irma and are safe, however, they are bracing themselves to face Hurricane Jose.
This is according to Dominican, Nathaniel Isaac, who is also in charge of the Met Office in St. Martin.
Speaking on Q95 on Thursday afternoon, he said that among the unconfirmed deaths being spoken about, Dominicans were not included.
“I have not heard of any reported deaths re Dominicans, in fact, it is unconfirmed but, I know that there were two deaths, but they were not Dominicans,” he said.
Isaac said he has been in touch with a few Dominicans that he knows in St. Martin, and has also been on live radio, but due to poor connections and with communication via radio “totally off,” there were some concerns among Dominicans who were listening.
Despite all this, Isaac noted that “most of the Dominicans I’ve heard from so far are doing pretty okay” however all eyes are on Jose, which is now a major hurricane.
“After Irma, we may not have communications, and we may not be able to talk to you, but we want you to know that by Saturday there is also a system that could affect us,” he said to Dominicans living on that island.
He noted that St. Martin, according to the National Hurricane Centre, is not expect to experience hurricane force winds but tropical storm force winds which will pose a problem for forecasters dispensing the information to the public.
Isaac stated that because of this communication issue, the weather team will have to engage alternatives in getting important messages across.
“Most of the radio stations are down, so that is more the concern. Like we said in an earlier meeting today, if we have to have persons going around with speakers to pass the information, well that will be done,” he remarked.
A Hurricane Watch is presently in effect for Antigua, Barbuda, and Anguilla, St Maarten, St. Martin, St. Barthelemy.
The Dominica Amateur Radio Club Inc. (DARCI) operators have started making contact with persons in areas affected by Hurricane Irma, including St. Martin, to confirm their safety to their relatives in Dominica.
Dominicans come back home. if you do not have a house we will give you a Petro Casa for easy and comfortable living
Mr. Isaac is there any way you can organize a center where Dominicans can register and post the list or forward to the radio stations so that we can know how safe our relatives and friends are? I know that it would bring much relief to many of us here if we could just get a little word from them. Thank you
LASER 101 is now operational. You can listen to it http://laser101.fm/
Isaac I do appreciate your info and we are all happy to hear that none of our countrymen died in SM. However, are they really safe? Based on what we have seen, how safe can you be if your house is no more , or is partially demolished, or your roof gone?
I agree they may be alive and well/uninjured; but, are they really safe?
Hoping that Jose does not cause any further damage.
PS. Please let us know how we can assist.