ST LUCIA – St Lucia’s airports in the north and south of the island are now fully operational following the passage of Hurricane Tomas, a Category 1 storm, over the weekend. Senator Allen Chastanet, Saint Lucia’s Tourism and Civil Aviation Minister, reported that over the past few days Saint Lucians of walks of life joined hands in “true community spirit” to clear roads, clean debris and help communities return to a state of normalcy. As of Tuesday, the island’s two airports – Hewanorra International Airport in the south and George F. L. Charles Airport in the north of the island – were open for business; and American Eagle had increased services at George F. L. Charles Airport to move passengers who had previously been delayed between San Juan, Puerto Rico and Saint Lucia.
“We are pleased to report that major roads have been cleared and the Castries-Vieux Fort and Soufrière-Vieux Fort thoroughfares are now fully motorable,” Chastanet said. Electricity has been restored to 80 per cent of the island while power will flow to 90 per cent of the country by this weekend. Most resorts currently have adequate water, and water supply should be restored in short order after detailed inspections revealed damage to the water dam is substantially less than expected. Most businesses resumed operations this week. Chastanet reported that “incredible improvements are being made every day to clean up debris littered throughout the island while tourism stakeholders intimated no significant damage to their properties and attractions.” He said: “We look forward to welcoming visitors by air from Europe, North America and the Caribbean with regularity from Friday. He also announced that cruise ships will resume calls to the island from November 7. “Our prayers are with our brothers and sisters here and in the Eastern Caribbean who have been affected by this storm as well as those elsewhere in the region who are bracing themselves for its arrival over the next few days”.
