PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) — Trinidad and Tobago was mopping up Tuesday after being spared the full brunt of Tropical Storm Bret, the first named weather system of the 2017 Atlantic hurricane season.
Bret made its way through the twin island republic late Monday night into Tuesday.
The Office of Disaster Preparedness and Management (ODPM) said that there were no reports of injuries but that several properties, mainly in the eastern and northern section of Trinidad as well as in Tobago, had been affected by the storm’s passage.
“We have no reports of injuries,” said the head of the ODPM, Captain Neville Wint, confirming that at least 27 patients at the St Ann’s Hospital on the outskirts of the capital had to be evacuated to another part of the building after the roof was blown away.
In many other instances, the ODPM reported that trees and roofs were blown away by the storm. Commercial flights were expected to resume Tuesday after both the Piarco International Airport in Trinidad and the ANR Robinson Airport in Tobago re-opened.
In Tobago, a family was rescued by disaster preparedness officials after a tree fell on their home.
Schools, banks, as well as some commercial businesses remained closed Tuesday prolonging the long weekend that had included a public holiday on Monday as Trinidad and Tobago observed Labour Day where trade union leaders called for the removal of at least five government ministers.
A number of supermarkets had reported brisk business on Monday as people stocked up on water, bread, candles and other necessities ahead of the storm that is now moving towards Venezuela.
