Red Cross waits for directions
as tropical storm approaches
PHILIPSBURG--While the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) Core Group met Tuesday following the announcement that Tropical Storm Chris was headed towards St. Maarten, members of the St. Maarten Red Cross were kept in the dark about what would be expected of them during the storm.
According to Fire Chief and EOC Coordinator Winston Salomon, the Core Group consists normally of police, the Fire Department and the Public Works Department ROB. He said that because of the expectation of high sea surges, GEBE had been called in, as sea conditions had been known to affect electricity distribution on the island. EOC also wanted to obtain answers about drinking water.
While Red Cross volunteers were concerned that they were not being informed, Salomon told The Daily Herald that if the situation worsened, the other players in the EOC would be informed, and then Sector Welfare would inform the Red Cross.
He said, “Just like during Carnival celebration, this is annually part of our lives and they just have to be prepared.”
According to reports reaching this newspaper, volunteers had been sitting at the Simpson Bay Red Cross office for several hours without any notice as to what will occur.
A concern with this wait was the need to prepare the shelters by having medical supplies and food in order, to accommodate people if needed.
But Salomon said, “You have to train your people to be prepared.”
That need, however, is further compounded by the report that some of the original 14 designated shelters are still not safe to be used as shelters, according to Red Cross standards.
However, Salomon said he had told many people repeatedly that the shelters were not luxury hotels. He said some shelters needed to be worked on and work was being done on them, “but the shelters can be used.”
He said there were now 16 shelters on the Dutch side, as two more shelters had been added to the list. Salomon said the Red Cross would normally accompany the Fire Department to perform the necessary inspection of the proposed shelters and make a report.
He said that with the storm coming there was enough time for people whose houses were not secured to go to relatives’ homes and weather the storm there. If that option is not available, the shelters can be used.
The Core Group of EOC met for 45 minutes to review preparations with respect to the approaching tropical storm. According to a release issued by the Government Information Service (GIS), the first advisory at 8:00am Tuesday stated that the storm was headed towards the Northern Leeward Islands and was located 135 miles East of Antigua and moving Northwest at nine miles per hour, with storm conditions expected to worsen within 12 to 24 hours.
It was forecast at that time to move over the northernmost Leeward Islands, including St. Maarten, with maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour with higher gusts.
The release stated, “Acting Chairman of the EOC Mathias Voges received an update on the island’s general state of preparedness concerning a storm or hurricane threat.”
Residents have been advised to continue monitoring weather broadcasts to keep abreast of new advisories that will be issued throughout the day on Wednesday with respect to Tropical Storm Chris.
The release stated that residents would also receive SMS messages via UTS and TelCell stating that St. Maarten is under a tropical storm warning.
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