Post - Hurricane Nicole

by 

Senator the Hon. Jeffrey Baron JP
Minister of National Security

14 October, 2016

Good afternoon everyone:

As Minister of National Security and Chair of the EMO I certainly wish to add my voice to the Premier’s and all of those in our community in commending the members of the Emergency Measures Organisation for their steadfastness and professionalism pre, during and post Hurricane Nicole. 

These are some incredibly dedicated individuals from our public and private sector agencies, and it was an honour to serve side by side with them during this storm.

With that, the EMO met this afternoon and here is what we can provide as an update at this time. 

• Throughout the course of today, we are seeing signs of Bermuda returning to normal.
• Significant progress has been made with BELCO getting more customers online today, the Causeway reopening last night and the L.F. Wade International Airport reopening today. 
• We have seen the first flights arrive this afternoon and there have been no flight cancellations for today. We also can report that regular cruise calls will resume next week. Work crews from the Ministry of Public Works, Department of Parks, the Royal Bermuda Regiment and BELCO continue their clearing and restoration works around Bermuda. These works will continue into the weekend.
• And like the Premier, I had the privilege of spending some time with the RBR as they conducted their clean up works around the Island. 
• As you can appreciate there were significant road obstructions around the Island following the hurricane and I want to commend the RBR for working incredibly hard from first light this morning to clear our roadways.
• The damage reports coming in from around the Island include residential roof damage, downed power lines, poles and trees and some flooding. 
• As we noted earlier this morning, the main roads are mostly clear, we continue to ask motorists to use caution as there is still debris in the road. Minor roads are being assessed and continue to be cleared.‎
• As it relates to public transportation, bus and ferry service has been cancelled for today. However, ferry service will resume tomorrow. 
• And assessments are still being conducted regarding the resumption of bus service and we will provide a confirmation update to the public later today regarding buses.
• It will be business as usual for Government on Monday, with all offices being open. 
• We are currently assessing our Government schools; which includes an assessment of power and structural damage; and we are aiming to have schools reopen on Monday. We will confirm that with the public on Sunday. 
• The Hospital is operating as normal.
• Garbage collection resumed as normal today.
• The Hamilton docks are doing assessments and we expect a public update over the weekend.
• The Government shelter reported three dozen members of the public using that facility during the hurricane. And at 10 am this morning, those residents returned home and the shelter closed. 

These are the pertinent public services updates and the EMO will continue to provide progress reports as we continue to get Bermuda moving again.

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