Nevispages Reporter
(CHARLESTOWN, NEVIS)- Charlestown was deserted on Monday, October 12, 2014 when the Federal Government in St. Kitts and Nevis and the Nevis Island Administration in Nevis decided to close schools and government offices; and private sector businesses closed their doors. This was a result of the Federation and other Caribbean countries being under a tropical storm warning for Tropical Storm Gonzalo.
Head of the Nevis Disaster Management Department (NDMD) Lester Blackett reported to the Department of Information on Tuesday, October 14, 2014 that Nevis did not suffer any major damage from the passage of Tropical Storm Gonzalo on Monday, October 13, 2014.
This media house however witnessed one yacht which seemingly ran aground in the vicinity of Tamarind Bay.
Life in Nevis returned to normal on Tuesday after the island was able to escape the storm that later developed into a hurricane with wind speeds exceeding 75 miles per hour. Hurricane Gonzalo has now moved on to impact other countries.
The Daily Observer in Antigua reported that the storm had decimated most of the crops on island which would be a great loss for the Antiguan farmers.
The Daily Herald in St. Maarten stated that Hurricane Gonzalo barrelled through St. Maarten on Monday evening leaving one person dead and a wave of destruction in its wake.
The newspaper further stated that the deceased, an 87-year-old sailor who was on one of the boats in Simpson Bay Lagoon, had survived Hurricane Luis in his boat in 1995, but did not survive the category one Hurricane Gonzalo. It is believed that he was on his boat at the time of his passing.
His body was fished out of the lagoon near Boca Marina in Simpson Bay around 8:00am Tuesday. No one else was reported missing in Dutch St. Maarten, Chief of Police Peter de Witte confirmed on Monday, but French St. Martin authorities have reported two persons missing as of 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday night – one in St. Martin and one in St. Barths.
Hurricane Gonzalo is currently a category 3 hurricane and is threatening the British colony of Bermuda.
