Imelda: A 20% Crops Damaged in Rodrigues
One of the most affected areas is the grid with power lines down and it made his morning, the island was experiencing blackouts and has been since the end of yesterday. The Disaster Committee, chaired by the Chief Commissioner of the Rodrigues Regional Assembly, Serge Clair, met this morning to make an emergency first interim balance sheet and amounted to take cognizance of the action plan developed in the main Rodrigues sectors to return to normal as soon as possible. Please note that this morning, Imelda made no victim Rodrigues, but three injured, one had to undergo surgery this morning for severed tendons in the tropical cyclone.
Gusts with a peak of 120 km, which swept Rodrigues since mid-day yesterday, have damaged the power grid. At first, the whole East Pointe Cotton area, including River Banana, Coco River and environs, had been deprived of electricity, about 7000 subscribers. However, with the deteriorating weather and cyclone Imelda its closest point in the afternoon, it was the total blackout in Rodrigues.
On this morning, the first repairs carried out by technicians of the Central Electricity Board, with the assistance of experts in the field in the Special Mobile Force, helped restore the electricity supply to 10% of subscribers. The Port Mathurin, the main center of economic activities on the island and home to the headquarters of the regional government was supplied with electricity.
During deliberations Disaster Committee, the head of CEB, Jim Payen, made it clear that saw the damage to the network and the progression of repair, we can expect a return to normal within 48 hours, on Thursday morning. The commerce and business will be preferred in the program reconnection to the mains. The CEB calls for prudence and patience on the part of subscribers in the economy.
always in terms of infrastructure, the island's roads were impassable since yesterday because of obstructions caused by trees. Representatives of the Committee on Public Infrastructure undertook a General Survey since this morning to assess the damage to the road network.
Collaboration with members of the SMF, deployed from early morning, the main roads leading from the chief town Port-Mathurin airport Plaine Corail has been cleared to allow traffic between the cities. Members of the SMF, firefighters and employees of the various committees were hard at work, assisted by an excavator to clear roads and crowded rafts. In some places, the road was cut because of overflowing rivers.
Telecommunications network was put out of action in the areas of Plaine Corail with severed cables up to Mountain Cabris. Approximately 10% of telephone subscribers are affected since. Mauritius Telecom technicians have already tackled the task to repair the faults.
From side of the airport Sir Charles Gaetan Duval, the return to normal were as early Tuesday with the resumption of air links between Mauritius / Rodrigues / Mauritius. The first flight was announced for 2:30 p.m.. But the Department of Planning of the national airline, Air Mauritius will have work to do to catch up with 11 flights delayed accumulated since Sunday. At mid-day, very few details were available about the reprogramming of these flights of Mauritius and Rodrigues.
Agricultural sector has been affected by the passing of Imelda in the vicinity of Rodrigues, in particular an overabundance of rain. Based on early indications on the ground of the Committee on Agriculture of the Regional Assembly, Serge Clair estimates the shortfall at 20% after Imelda. The greatest difficulty crops are maize, beans and onions in Mountain Regions-Malagasy Mourouk and Port East. Harvesting silt Rodrigues seems to be compromised for the moment.
Chief Commissioner appealed to the specialized services of the Commission of Agriculture for the state of places further fields of corn, beans and onions damaged in an attempt to recover.
Social Security services identified 162 refugee centers. The Chief Commissioner has called for a thorough investigation of each case, regardless of the state houses among other things, to submit their applications to the National Empowerment Foundation (NEF) for possible assistance. Leaders of the community center of the village of Petit-Gabriel were solicited in the cyclone to help a dozen people, including a baby a month surprises on the road by the deteriorating weather.
During a patrol Sunday afternoon, the police had intercepted two women and eight children, including the baby a month, walking along the road in Petit Gabriel, while the tropical cyclone approached Imelda Rodrigues. They were walking in Baie Topaze their native village. Given the distance and the time it was the assistance of members of the community center in Little Gabriel was asked to host them for the night. Makeshift beds, chairs and mattresses as well as clothes were available to them. Safe, they should return home during the afternoon.
On the other hand, 39 scouts, who had set up camp in the area Mourouk, had fear of their lives with the overflow of the river Mourouk. They became prisoners of water. They had to call the police and the Special Mobile Force for evacuation of this area become dangerous with torrential rains accompanying Imelda.
Imelda has only three wounded, including a victim having to undergo surgery. But the health sector is left with a very serious problem. The main hospital on the island, the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital Heart-breaker, no longer has a drop of water. The hospital tank was emptied yesterday afternoon when the power connection was severed. Emergency measures were taken this morning while waiting for repairs.
Chapter major gaps, participants at the meeting of the Disaster Committee this morning stressed the urgency of the establishment of a Disaster Management Centre for better coordination of field operations in times of natural disaster. For their part, representatives of firefighters focused on the difficulties encountered when working with only barracks installed at Port Mathurin and cruel lack of pumps and other basic amenities.
