Besides a few short-winded huffs and puffs, mixed with intermittent showers in some areas, residents found time for favourite pastimes.

Softball cricket seemed to have topped the list of activities in almost every district, while the five-foot waves on most beaches, particularly at Gravesend, became the action centre for surfers.

Activity at most of the hurricane shelters was also limited, with those who would normally seek safe ground opting for the luck of the draw that had so many times before proved on target.

Besides a few vagrants who sought shelter at the base of Government's Treasury Building, Bridgetown was literally a ghost town.

Barbadians were not taking any chances and had taken to heart repeated cautions by Government officials to take the weather warnings seriously.