Speaking with the Minister responsible for NEMO Edmond Castro today, he discussed those banana losses and the wider social footprint of a storm - which he says, was moving so fast it forgot to rain:
Hon. Edmond Castro - Minister of NEMO
"Thank goodness Nana passed and passed us so fast, Nana even forgot to drop water. So that was a good thing for us. You have a few houses in Sittee River, Silk Grass and so on, one or two sheets of zinc blown off. The hardest hit area is the agricultural sector which is some banana. We are still awaiting the proper assessment on the loss from the banana crops. So, we are constantly doing that. I think we received some initial reports as to more or less how much, but we need to verify, we have our people on the ground. We were able to clear all major archeries within the country, rest of the country outside of the Stann Creek, Toledo district did not even receive rain nor wind."
Reporter
"Sir did any flooding affected the roads, anything of that sort?"
Hon. Edmond Castro
"This hurricane not even drop water but all the major archeries, all the roads have been cleared. I think we are almost back to normal."
Jules Vasquez
"We also know that people have food needs in terms of water and they also have needs in nourishment. What have you all assessed as the level of need and what is the response?"
Hon. Edmond Castro
"Well exactly my point, we already have some food in stock, so our coordinators out there will give us that report and as to find out exactly who need what help and from NEMO perspective, we will be able to deal with that along with Human Development to make sure that those people receive some food packages."
Jules Vasquez
"What was the shelter use and availability as far as you know outside of the city?"
Hon. Edmond Castro
"Countrywide, approximately 4,000 seek shelter. By now, everybody went back home."
The Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Health, the BDF, the police, and the utility companies are making detailed assessments of the damage.
A fly-over has been done with the BDF defender, and a number of people were deployed for ground assessments.
A release says,"At this time the priority for assessments is focused on humanitarian needs."
