Callers blast Governor on “All Clear” decision after TS Isaac!
It was on Thursday, August 23, 2012 when The National Emergency Operations Center advised the Virgin Islands community that Governor Boyd McCleary had consulted with the Director of Disaster Management, Sharleen Dabreo and was satisfied that the immediate threat was over and had issued the official ALL CLEAR.
The All Clear from the Governor meant that all government offices were open for business on Thursday; therefore, all government officers were expected to report to work. It also meant that the private sector was also cleared to open for business.
During All Clear unsatisfactory conditions faced by residents
However, many residents calling on the ‘speak your mind’ TV talk show on Saturday, August 25, 2012, believed the Governor was ill advised and residents were still facing unsatisfactory weather conditions. Many callers expressed the view that roads were blocked in the west end of Tortola with other coastal areas filled with debris that made driving impossible, power was off in some areas on Tortola eg, Great Mountain and parts of Georges North Side, and many other small pockets on Tortola and furthermore, many of the residents on the Sister Islands could not have reported to work because of the dangerous, rough seas, and lack of ferry services.
One caller to the show said he believed the Governor’s decision “was premature” as conditions were unsafe for many residents. The Show’s Co-host Sam Henry agreed with the caller.
Minister for Communications and Works Honourable, Mark Vanterpool confirmed that roads in the western area of Tortola had to be closed on Thursday, the same day of the ALL Clear by the Governor.
The effect of the Tropical Strom Isaac “caused us to close the road last evening and divert traffic in a different direction until this morning when we got it cleared up,” he said. “It was very dangerous” Minister Vanterpool told this news site in an interview for a previous story.
Hon. Vanterpool also said that water was coming over in different areas but it was just the area commonly referred to as the Bluff that became impassable and was cause for significant concern.
It remains unclear if those road conditions that were described by Minister Vanterpool as “dangerous” had placed residents and tourist life in danger even after hearing the All Clear from the United Kingdom appointed Governor McCleary.
Sharleen Dabreo Speaks
Sharleen Dabreo Director of the Department of Disaster Management told this news site in an exclusive interview that “the advice was based on various sources subscribed to on an annual basis”.
The Director said, “we had direct consultation with the Antigua Metrological Office which is responsible for issuing watches and warnings for us and we also looked at all the releases that were coming in from the National Hurricane centre….”
Ms. Dabreo concluded by reminding that there was also a “precautionary note in the Governor's statement to say that persons venturing on the road needed to be careful”.
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29 Responses to “Callers blast Governor on “All Clear” decision after TS Isaac!”
The head of DDM said the decision was based on various sources i.r antigua metrological office and the national hurricane center. The problem is they are saying what radar and so on are picking up.. . after the storm has passed it is our Govt responsibility to have people on the ground finding out what challenges are faced. i saw a woman get her leg slammed by her car door because of the type of gusts we had here in town. debris was flying in certain locations even saw a coconut fall off a tree...SAFETY is priority one and with random gusts like that and swells coming into the road in certain areas guess what it is unsafe. Had someone gotten hurt people like you would've been the first to blast the gov't for being irresponsible but just because nothing bad happened you wanna call people lazy.
who work harder that we in this place??? so just scatter wid tis pi$$ deman
Best of you all people, prefer tp copy someone instead of getting your own identity in life!
the man was not advise propery S******e needs to go! they miss Zeblan form that place.
I agree with the callers this was premature ...the water was so rough last Thursday for any ferry to go anywhere ..
And even Hon. M**k admitted the roads were a mess .. west end road was closed and my aunt had to go all the way around to get home, how could he say 'all clear'??? maybe he was still in bed seing with civil servant he and the NDP could aid in getting rid of!
I was flabbergasted when I heard the all clear announced on Thursday morning because the initial reports were that the hurricane was supposed to arrive in the VI Thursday afternoon, which is exactly what happened. DDM needs to take the responsibility for giving the Governor inaccurate information instead of offering dumb excuses why they did what they did
I will appreciate if someone like the governor has the decency to apology to the people.