Message: Tropical Storm Tomas impacts Barbados, with winds of near 70 miles per hour; strengthens to a Category 1 Hurricane and impacts three other CDEMA Participating States.

Event: Tropical Storm Tomas, a very strong tropical storm, made landfall in Barbados at about 2:00 a.m. on Saturday October 30, 2010 with maximum sustained winds of near 70 miles per hour with higher gusts. The centre of the storm passed 20 miles south of Barbados, strengthened to a Category 1 Hurricane and moved northwest, impacting the states of Saint Vincent & the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Dominica. The all clear for Barbados was issued today, Saturday, October 30, 2010 at 2:00 p.m. while the other three states remain on Hurricane Warning.

Barbados:
Impact
A number of buildings, particularly houses, sustained damage. Many houses have lost roofs; a few have been totally destroyed; some utility poles and lines downed; electricity to many areas was lost; trees have fallen across roads, making them impassable. There are also reports of damage to several vehicles.

National Actions
The Department of Emergency Management (DEM), National Emergency Operation Center (NEOC) was activated early on Friday evening October 29, 2010 and, as weather conditions further deteriorated, at 10:45 p.m. a national shut-down was ordered for 12:30 a.m.

Most emergency shelters across the island are open.

Prime Minister, Honourable Freundel Stuart conducted a press briefing today to update the media on the impact of Tomas and to guide on the way forward for the response.

Teams have been deployed across the island to conduct damage assessment.

The Roving Team has been deployed country wide to provide rapid response and clear roads. The utility workers are also working to restore electricity, water and telephone to the affected areas.

St. Vincent and the Grenadines:
Impact
The country is experiencing heavy rains with hurricane force winds and rough seas. This has resulted in damage to the road networks, loss of several roofs and downed trees and power lines.

The most affected area is the Northern part and the least impacted so far are the islands of the Grenadines.
Heavy rains and gusty winds expected until 10:00 p.m. tonight, October 30, 2010.
One casualty reported – a male was injured when he fell off the roof while preparing his property.

National Actions
The National Emergency Management Office has fully activated its NEOC and has sent out two Situation Reports (SITREPS) to CDEMA.

Shelters are open across the island.

Some critical clearing is being conducted to enable search and rescue to take place.

Search & Rescue and Damage Assessment Teams are standing by to be deployed as soon as the “All Clear” is issued.

Saint Lucia
Impact
The National Emergency Management Organization has reported the loss and damage of several roofs of houses and small commercial structures in many communities including Vieux Fort, Castries, Choiseul and Micoud. These include the Dennery Hospital, part of Dennery Secondary school, the La Guere Primary School Computer laboratory. Minor roof damage to Babonneau Multi-purpose centre is also reported.

Flooding reported in Canaries and Laborie areas. Several trees and utility poles fallen across the island.  

There is a power outage across the entire island.

One injury has been reported.

National Actions
The National Emergency Management Organization activated its NEOC this morning and a national shutdown was issued at 6:00 a.m.
Emergency shelters in Anse la Raye and Dennery North & South are currently occupied.

Dominica
The country is experiencing heavy rains and gusty winds. The National Emergency Operation Center has limited activation.

Prognosis
At 6:00p.m the center of Hurricane Tomas was located near latitude 13.5 north and longitude 61.6 west. Tomas is moving toward the west-northwest near 10 mph or17 km/hr and this motion is expected to continue through Sunday.  On the forecast track the center of Tomas will continue to move away from Saint Lucia and Saint Vincent this evening.

Maximum sustained winds are near 90 mph or 150 km/hr with higher gusts based on recent reports from the meteorological service of Saint Lucia.  Tomas is a Category One hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane wind scale.  Some additional strengthening is forecasted during the next 48 hours.

Hurricane force winds extend outward up to 25 miles or 35 km from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 175 Miles or 280 km.  

Tomas is expected to produce total rain accumulations of 4 to 6 inches with possible isolated maximum amounts of 8 inches across portions of the Windward and Southern Leeward Islands.

A dangerous storm surge will raise water levels by as much as 2 to 4 feet above normal tide levels within areas of onshore flow. The surge will be accompanied by large and potentially destructive waves.

Regional Response
Barbados and the CDEMA Coordinating Unit have been in contact with the impacted Participating States and will continue to monitor the situation.
The Regional Response Mechanism is now placed on standby. Barbados is the sub-regional focal point for St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Lucia and Dominica who are currently being threatened by Hurricane Tomas.

The CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit (CDRU) is on standby and ready to provide response support should this become necessary.

Contact Details: The CDEMA CU 24hr contact number is 1 246 425 0386