Post Storm Briefing By Acting Premier Richards
In a statement following the passing of Hurricane Joaquin, acting Premier, Minister Bob Richards said that “Bermuda appears to have weathered this storm well,” expressing thanks to everyone on the island who worked throughout the storm in order to “ensure the safety of all of us.”
Minister Richards said, “Bermuda appears to have weathered this storm well and already we are returning to normal.
“The vast majority of residents remained off the roads and secured their property in good time before the main impact of the hurricane. As early as 1 am this morning, crews from our various agencies were at work preparing main roads for use by the motoring public.
“The main effort at this stage will be the restoration of power, continued road clearance and assessment of various sites to ensure the safety of schools and other buildings.
“As it stands now the LF Wade International Airport has reopened along with most Government Offices. Public bus service has resumed on major routes. Some roadways are being assessed and once given the all clear, it is anticipated that more commuter routes will become available.
“Regular ferry service will resume at 4.10 p.m. However, there is limited service on the Paget/Warwick route.”
“Garbage collection advisories have been issued as there will be a disruption of service today in the West End. Before I hand over to the Commissioner of Police, let me express my thanks on behalf of the Government and people of Bermuda to those men and women who rode out the storm away from their families so that they could ensure the safety of all of us.
“They continue to do us proud and as the winds subside, we can rest assured that Bermuda will be back to normal shortly. The EMO met at noon today and I am confident that the emergency and security services are attending to priority tasks.
“We should all bring a healthy dose of patience to this clean up period as the work progresses as quickly as possible. We will continue to provide updated information on schools and other aspects of public services.
“There is a tremendous amount of work underway by various agencies, including BELCO, whose crews braved the elements even last night to restore power to some areas.
“Thank you and please continue to stay safe.”
In an accompanying statement, Bermuda Police Service Commissioner Michael DeSilva said, “Road checks commenced at 0100 hours as per BWS forecast of cessation of storm winds.
“Main routes are clear for emergency vehicles from KEMH to Dockyard [West] and Causeway [East] with minor exceptions where passage is limited to single lane. KEMH has been apprised.
“I should note that the lane closure near Blue Hole Hill is for safety and structural reasons. The motoring public can expect this lane closure to be in place for a couple of days to allow for the Works and Engineering crews to undertake the appropriate inspections.
“No major road obstructions reported, save for downed trees/branches throughout the island. RBR deployed from Warwick Camp at 0300 hrs to commence early clearance as a road safety measure. W&E/Parks deployed assets after first light as needed.
“No major incidents reported, save for a pump room fire at a private residence [no injuries and minor damage] and a few BELCO pole fires that ended without major incident. Other than taking out the neighbourhood’s electricity.
“No major structural damages reported. Several minor reports of wind related damage.”
The best place to view all updates is our live blog here, and you can view all our hurricane coverage here.
Nice job Bermuda! Timing your storms on weekends minimizes economic impact too, great job OBA!
What did the OBA do that was so great.
As I see it they did nothing but make last minute decisions.
Can you list all the decisions the plp made that were not late, when it came to any hurricane??? What a fool to even say such a stupid thing???
Ah??? I see, Alaska hall must have electricity and the usual dead heads don’t so they are there enjoying the special plp tea hitting the dislike button!!! Sad bunch you are???
Hey kangoocar…it was a hurricane not the plp fault..
You must have lost your roof..
Call OBA Mp Gordon she got hers fix…
someone yanked your chain,, lol..so they are a fool for saying what they said, but your extremely biased and irrational posts (at times) are not foolish?? smh
Vell dun OBA! PLP woulda messed this hur hurcane up real bad. Is der fawlt it hit us anyvey, k? good jawb OBA for makin sure der vas no real damage. safe
Did the airport building stand up ? Did it flood out ? Is it operational ?
Ya, and de water was up to the ceiling.
What an @$$.
I’m Timid about posting a comment because my pockets aren’t that deep……..
I guess mission accomplished??
Love the way some folks throw criticism at the Government of the day at every possible opportunity. They should really be in positions of power – for just one day!
However, I do have one criticism to make and perhaps someone can explain what happened or didn’t happen. I tried to rely on our local weather forecasting system shown on Channel 4 to keep informed about what was happening with Joaquin. I was especially interested in the situation at that time of the evening when the hurricane was forecast to make it’s closest pass to Bermuda. I switched on Channel 4 just after 9pm for an update and was rather shocked to see that the latest update being shown was from 4.30pm in the afternoon. In other words it was 5 hours late! Surely it must be possible to provide updates on a far more timely basis.
I was very impressed to see the new map showing all of our patrishes and indicating where rain clouds are passing over the Island. This was amazingly accurate when it was first broadcast, but something has gone wrong! For the past 5 days it has been showing one single rain cloud over St. David’s which has never moved an inch. This same map was being shown last night during the height of the hurricane when it was pouring with rain as far as the eye could see, but that little old parish map was still showing that one little cloud hovetring over St. George’s. And it’s exactly the same this evening as of 11pm. Can someone at the Weather Service please either remove the parish map or correct it?
Where was the milk man, if memory servers me, he was absent during last two storms..correct me if I’m wrong. damn, i hope im wrong.
Using a natural emergency like a hurricane ….to Politically Bash heads….Bermuda grow up….
Why does everything on this island have to be about politics or race? Pretty sad
#1 that’s what the island was founded on
#2 that’s what the island was founded on
#3 that’s what the island was founded on.
Big storm came ,big storm went . Any need for a new airport building yet ? Sponge Bob will be quick to say ,” we need a new airport desperately because this one’s roof gets wet every time it rains.”
When is your a@@ leaving that’s all we need to know kandodo smh
I’m just ever so curious as to why the Government Emergency Radio station was OFF AIR. Gotta love this Government.
Hurricane Joaquin / Political Parties ummmm I don’t get the correlation. Have we become that BACKWARD of a society that each and everything that happens is politically attached.
Question to you all – I saw a pigeon crap on Front Street the other day….which party is at fault for that? I need to know.
Come on guys….. somtimes you just have to grow up mmmmmkaaayyyyy.
Have a great day and glad all are safe.
Ty
Lets get this right you fellow onions………We had a huge blow, the God’s once again sent this system away and we were once again blessed. I was impressed with the preparations and the work done by the Regiment and the Police etc. I live on the road and kept checking the traffic flow….Most people stayed put, some turkeys ventured out and of course some had to go out do to emergencies or work. Hey some folk had to leave their families to help to keep us informed and to protect us. Thank you to one and all my fellow Bermudians and X-pats too also to the tourists for riding this system out with us. The tourists will return home and explain how prepared we were and how awesome it was and how Bermudians helped one another. All good, all good. Bless us all.
Michael DeSilva……..job well done and your explanation of the closure of the causeway was straight and direct and easy to understand – even for those who are twits and don’t want to hear it. Shoot everyone’s safety has to be met. Inconvenient or not.
For future reference, to ALL hurricanes, if you decide to come to Bermuda make sure you are a 3 and over, because anything under that is just wasting our F!@#ing time.
You have some or a very serious prorblem who-ever you are Onion Juice
This applies to all others that may share your sentiments! Granted, there are many things that can / should be changed but it’s still a pleasure even to visitors and locals of all ages.