Big Bad Rain on Xmas Eve night plays havoc.

Seven confirmed dead in St Vincent so far

and five in St Lucia !

plus many millions of dollars of damage in those two islands as well as Dominica.

Their economies can ill afford these severe shocks at this time.

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Seven confirmed dead in St Vincent so far

and five in St Lucia !

plus many millions of dollars of damage in those two islands as well as Dominica.

 

Their economies can ill afford these severe shocks at this time.

.

:eek: Horrible! Had not heard about this!

Can you provide websites and details.

Please let us know if you get more info.

LuLu

Have just heard about this too. Heavy rain has caused island-wide flooding, landslides, road damage and casualties. This is such a terrible and unfortunate thing to happen and on Christmas Eve too!

Click here for more information about this.

BBC reports...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25516516

BBC reports...

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-25516516

Aplmac, was your island of Barbados affected by this weather system?

Aplmac, was Barbados affected by this weather system?

We had a lovely Xmas Eve Nite, if a little "still" Dropped wind speeds, normally breezy but not this year.

We were seeing copious lightning down to the South of the island, though. Too far away to hear the rumble.

My dau. in Grenada reports that they had a 12-hr. long electrical storm that Xmas Eve nite!

Same thing in St.Vincent too, although St.V also had this MASSIVE water/rain!! :eek:

Seventeen 17 are now being reported as dead, in St.Vincent! :eek:

This is literally Hurricane Damage, but without the winds!

http://www.caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Christmas-storm-death-toll-rises-19214.html

http://caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Virgin-Atlantic-aircraft-damaged-on-landing-in-St-Lucia-19222.html

tells the story!

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We were just docked at St. Lucia on December 26. It was so sad. We were told that 5 were killed and others were missing and that that was the equivalent to 30,000 dead in the states due to St. Lucia's small population. (I didn't confirm those statistics, just repeating them.) Many of Carnival's ship tours were cancelled. ANYTHING around the volcano, mud baths, etc., were cancelled due to roads being out. We were on a tour that included that area, but our guide just changed the itinerary. Traffic patterns were a mess. We drove over a bridge with a HUGE hole in on the opposite side. On our return trip, they had finally closed the road and we had to find a different route. Water was out as well.

We felt guilty enjoying the day and sunshine, but realized that had we just canceled our tour, we would have been adding additional hardship as they needed the money.

It is so sad for St Lucia. Some of the people were telling us that they had no electricity or water for Xmas. A horrible Xmas...

We had Cosol Tours booked for Dec 26. Instead of him cancelling, he improvised the day. Many of the roads and bridges had been washed away with homes and businesses damaged. Cosol's day tour turned out to be mainly on the water. He rented two boats for all of his guests. Many of the things that he advertises for you to see were gone or not available. Sadly, the bakery that ends the day with cheese and bread had been destroyed by the floods.

Cosol made the most of a sad situation to give us all a good time.

It is so sad for St Lucia. Some of the people were telling us that they had no electricity or water for Xmas. A horrible Xmas...

 

We had Cosol Tours booked for Dec 26. Instead of him cancelling, he improvised the day. Many of the roads and bridges had been washed away with homes and businesses damaged. Cosol's day tour turned out to be mainly on the water. He rented two boats for all of his guests. Many of the things that he advertises for you to see were gone or not available. Sadly, the bakery that ends the day with cheese and bread had been destroyed by the floods.

 

Cosol made the most of a sad situation to give us all a good time.

James Tours did something similar with us. He needed to modify the day quite a bit. Actually he added something we absolutely loved! He took us to the original ship in filmed in the Pirates of the Caribbean and Roots. It was incredible! He must have known the people because they let us crawl all over the ship and take oodles of pictures. My daughter (17), a HUGE fan of the movie was in heaven. James also took us to Pigeon Island for a hike and some swimming as well as a delicious lunch at a local restaurant.

We really wanted to do the volcano, but due to the circumstances, we totally understand and were thrilled with the change in itinerary and will certainly be giving James a superior rating.

http://caribbeannewsnow.com/topstory-Virgin-Atlantic-aircraft-damaged-on-landing-in-St-Lucia-19222.html

 

tells the story!

 

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Caribbean new snow?

If anyone is interested in helping the people of St Lucia after this devastating flood.

https://www.wepay.com/donations/st.-lucia-flood-victims

Caribbean news now

Caribbean new snow?

Any updates on the conditions in St. Lucia?

Any updates on the conditions in St. Lucia?

What sort of info are you looking for? all the roads are open and fine with a few bypasses in a very few areas, mud and such has been mostly cleaned up, some people who lost everything are still in shelters, etc. But as far as tourism is related, there is little to no damage and everything is open and running just fine.

I am glad the tourism areas are fine, of course. However, my prayers are with the poor people who lost so much. I am hoping the recovery process is going ok and that the people affected are being offered sufficient aid.

I am glad the tourism areas are fine, of course. However, my prayers are with the poor people who lost so much. I am hoping the recovery process is going ok and that the people affected are being offered sufficient aid.

The recovery process is slow, as we are still trying to rebuild from a devastating hurricane 3 years ago, and this storm simply exacerbated the process in some areas, and added new areas of devastation. It will be a long process for the island, and her people, to rebuild - it doesn't happen in 3 or 4 weeks. There are still people in shelters, still those who lost everything trying to rebuild their lives, schools which are still closed due to having lost everything, roads in some places that are simply bypasses and won't be able to be fully repaired for a long time - $$$ is always a problem, especially for a small island country. The best way to help is to come visit (and bring donations if you can: clothes, toiletries, school supplies, etc) - your tourism dollars help rebuild the country. Buy local, use local operators, etc.

Enjoy your visit - hope you have a great time!

The recovery process is slow, as we are still trying to rebuild from a devastating hurricane 3 years ago, and this storm simply exacerbated the process in some areas, and added new areas of devastation. It will be a long process for the island, and her people, to rebuild - it doesn't happen in 3 or 4 weeks. There are still people in shelters, still those who lost everything trying to rebuild their lives, schools which are still closed due to having lost everything, roads in some places that are simply bypasses and won't be able to be fully repaired for a long time - $$$ is always a problem, especially for a small island country. The best way to help is to come visit (and bring donations if you can: clothes, toiletries, school supplies, etc) - your tourism dollars help rebuild the country. Buy local, use local operators, etc.

Enjoy your visit - hope you have a great time!

Thank you for the report. It is so heart breaking to hear about the struggle on the island. We do plan to use a local operator and leave some of our $$$ on the island. I hope everyone gets off the luxury ship they are on and helps "spread the wealth."