Guyana Gov’t donates US$200,000
– to assist St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines
THE Government of Guyana yesterday disclosed that it will donate US$100,000 to St Lucia and another US$100,000 to St Vincent and the Grenadines to assist the Governments of those Caribbean States in their efforts to restore infrastructure and to provide relief to their citizens following the destruction wrought by Hurricane Tomas across the Caribbean in late October and early last month. In separate messages to his CARICOM Colleagues, His Excellency President Bharrat Jagdeo had conveyed the sympathies of the Government and people of Guyana to the Governments and peoples of St. Lucia and St Vincent and the Grenadines. A statement yesterday from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the Government of Guyana hopes that the international community would respond to the calls of its sister Member States of CARICOM for much needed assistance to help them to return to a state of normalcy.

In early November, in the midst of Hurricane Tomas, St. Lucia’s Prime Minister Stephenson King declared a state of emergency, appealing for international help.

The southern St. Lucian town of Soufriere was hit the worst by the storm, and  Tourism Minister Allan Chastanet had said after the hurricane that the town resembled “a war zone.”

Bridges to the capital, Castries were also destroyed, isolating the capital from the rest of the island.

The hurricane also wrecked havoc on the island of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

HURRICANE SEASON ENDS
Meanwhile, the third-most active Atlantic hurricane season officially ended yesterday after causing at least US$1.6 billion in damage and killing hundreds while leaving the U.S. virtually unscathed.
A ‘Bloomberg’ news report said the season produced 19 named storms, with winds of at least 39 miles (63 kilometers) per hour, tying for third place with 1995 and 1887, and none made landfall on the U.S. as a hurricane, according to the National Hurricane Center in Miami.
Only 1933, which produced 21 systems, and 2005 with a record 28, had more.
“It was an incredibly active year but we missed it in the U.S.,” said Jeff Masters, co-founder of commercial forecaster Weather Underground Inc. in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “We lucked out with the oil spill and Haiti didn’t get totally smacked by a bad hurricane.”
Canada, Mexico, Central America and parts of the Caribbean suffered major impacts. Newfoundland recorded about US$100 million in damage and one death from Hurricane Igor in September, and Hurricane Tomas in October and November killed 41 and caused more than US$500 million in damage in Costa Rica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.