Dominicans advised to take TS Bret seriously
Dominicans have been urged to use the next few hours to prepare themselves for the passage of Tropical Storm Bret.
Bret, located 355 km east of St Lucia at 11 am, is expected to affect Dominica later today. The storm has winds that are around 110 km/h.
Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit advised Dominicans not to take the storm lightly.
“As we saw with hurricane Maria, [the storm] can move from a category one to category five hurricane in a half hour. Let us not wait for it to get to a point where we have no time,” the prime minister said.
“Tropical storms are something we have to take very seriously. We should not wait for it to elevate to a hurricane warning or watch for us to start acting up.”
The public and private sectors will be closed from midday to allow workers time to go home to make final preparations.
On the government’s side, Skerrit assured all systems are in place to assist people who need it.
Skerrit urged Dominicans to follow the advice of disaster management and security officials and evacuate when they were told to do so.
He said the government would not force people to enter shelters.
“What we have done as part of our responsibility as a government is to ensure every community has access to a shelter as far as practicable,” he said.
“Evacuating or asking you to move to a shelter is a voluntary exercise. But it is in your interest to recognise that you are vulnerable and at risk and that the lives of your children and family are in danger, and therefore the sensible thing will be to move to a shelter. If you have family and friends who can house you, that is even better.”
National Security Minister Rayburn Blackmoore said the shelters could house over 7,500 people.
Blackmoore said the government had improved its shelter and storage capacity over the years since the devastation caused by Hurricane Maria.
The National Emergency Planning Organisation (NEPO) Shelter Coordinator, Glenroy Toussaint, said persons needing to utilise the government facilities should be prepared to leave their homes within minutes of open shelters.
More than 50 shelters have been identified to house people in need.
Toussaint said shelters have basic supplies to assist those in need.
He advised people, who plan to use the shelters, to come with items such as their medicines, water, blankets and foodstuff.
“I want to encourage the general population to be mindful that as soon as the shelter is activated, we want people to go to the shelters. We have had in the past where people come at the 11th hour. This creates chaos and confusion, and that is not what is required,” Toussaint added.
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