Oppositon Leader Godwin Friday on Monday afternoon expressed concern that he was unable to reach anyone in Union Island after the impact of Hurricane Beryl, a powerful Cateogry 4 storm that began affecting St. Vincent and the Grenadines earlier in the day.
“I’ve heard of high winds and rain in the mainland. Southern Grenadines, I have not been hearing much. That’s a little worrying to me. In Canouan, I know of homes damaged,” Friday said from Bequia, in the Northern Grenadines, which he represnts in Parliament.
“In Union Island, I haven’t heard much from there. I have tried to reach the Honourable Terrance Ollivierre, I have not but will continue to do so,” Friday said, referring to the Southern Grenadines MP, who is also a member of the New Democratic Party.
“They were closer to the centre of it so they would have gotten more damage. It’s really a fightening experince becuase the winds were very, very strong where we were here in Bequia.”
iWitness News was unsuccessful in its repeated attempts throughout Monday to reach a number of people in Canouan and Union Island.
Residents of the island who has passed the storm on St. Vincent, told iWitness News that they, too, had failed in thier attemps to reach people in Canouan and Union Island.
Union Island is located relatively close to Carriacou, one of two southern Grenadine island belonging to Grenada.
On Monday, Grenada’s Prime Minister Dickon Mitchell said he aniticapted that the damage caused by Beryl in Carriacou “will be extreme” as the eye of the hurricane had made landfall earlier on Monday, the Caribbean Media Corporation reported.
Meanwhile, Friday spoke to iWitness News as he prepared to make an initial assessment of the impact of the storm on on Bequia.
“It is still raining and I have heard reports of some property damage. The Lower Bay school, I am told its roof is off, homes have been damaged. Fortunately, I haven’t heard any report of injuries and let’s hope that stays that way,” the opposition leader said.
“I am just about to go around now. It is still a little blustery and raining so I still have to be careful,” he said, adding that there was a lot of tree damage close to his home in Mt Plesant, but not as much as higher up in the area.
Friday said that Bequia was without electrity as the power was switched off Monday morning.
“It had gone for a short time yesterday in the evening and then it came back and we had power pretty much through the night.
“The strom really picked up around 9:30 or so this morning and after that the electricity went somtime during the morning. It hasn’t come back yet,” he said.
Friday said there were reports that some boats had lost their anchor and drifted off, adding that a ferry that had been anchored in the bay earlier was no longer there.
He said someone had told him that it had drifted out when the winds started.
The opposition leader said that three of the Bequia Express ferries that service the Kingstown-Bequia sea bridge were taken to Trinidad on Sunday while Admirality had taken its ferries North to St. Lucia or Martinque to weather the storm.
He said that Jaden Sun, the fast ferry, was anchored in Port Elizabeth and was still there at the time of the interview.
“So, hopefully it has not suffered any damage. I spoke to the captian and he said that was safer for him to do.”
Friday said there would be no ferry service between Kigstown and Bequia immediately after the passage of the hurricance, adding that one of the Express sailors had told him that the ferries might be in Trinidad for three days.
“Admiral, I don’t know when they will return but between here and Martinique, they expect the earliest posibble to be tomorrow.”