WILLEMSTAD — Fire brigade, police and all other departments involved such as the Red Cross, the Antillean Militia and the Navy with the clearing actions after the passing of tropical storm Tomas, have to make an evaluation of the damage yet. An estimation of the financial consequences was therefore not available around noon. The emergency staff was dissolved Tuesday morning.
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Edmiro Anita of the fire brigade stated the aforementioned upon being asked. "We are busy on the streets. Roads that were blocked and being cordoned, are gradually passable again and partly accessible such as at Zeelandia and Saliña. The water is now draining away." The fire brigade was especially busy with removing fallen over trees, and pumping out flooded houses and premises. Some 400 reports were received from Monday evening around eight o’clock until yesterday, that were dealt with according to priority. For instance, the relief centre Dios Yudami for addicts next to the former Board of Governors on Concordiastraat was flooded and the customers had to stay outside and consume their meal there. However, the first priority in the night of Monday to Tuesday regarded the evacuation of patients from the Advent Hospital at Groot Davelaar where the water flowed forcefully.
The exact material damage can’t be determined as yet, but it’s certain this is enormous with private persons whose house is flooded and furniture lost, with institutes and companies. Many companies in Zeelandia were struck. Albert Heijn was one of the companies that suffered the most water damage to amongst others freezers, computers and foods. "It’s disastrous and it saddens us", according to Albert Heijn owner Gerard van den Tweel who is in the Netherlands.
"Co-workers had to use a boat to get to the company in order to check the damage. Dozens of employees are currently making an all-out effort. It’s really very bad; all refrigeration is down due to short circuit, and there’s 30 to 40 centimeters of water in the supermarket." The material damage is enormous, according to Van den Tweel. "The damage runs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. There is also considerable sales loss. It’s a pity we cannot help the regulars." Van den Tweel expects that the supermarket will certainly be closed the next days and has not idea when it will re-open again." Van den Tweel will be coming to Curaçao this weekend to size up the situation. For that matter, Albert Heijn is well insured. Just like other companies in Zeelandia, Building Depot suffered considerable water damage to the heavy downpour last Tuesday. Building Depot supposedly incurred damages amounting to several hundreds of thousands guilders, according to general director Roderick Lucia. Although Building Depot was closed on Tuesday and yesterday, they will open their doors again tomorrow.
Bazaar
Lucia says that certain artikels, especially in the ‘hardware’ department suffered slight water damage. Building Depot will hold a bazaar where these articles are sold against reduced prices in a new packaging. According to Lucia, the water damage could have been worse. The largest damage regards the loss of revenues because the company had to close its doors for two days.
Around five o’clock yesterday afternoon, Premier Gerrit Schotte (MFK) held a final briefing showing pictures taken from the navy’s aircraft today. The schools were closed today to make the road more accessible and give the authorities the opportunity to perform their work optimally. The police will make an evaluation of the total damage. The weak spots on the island with heavy downpour, such as Nieuwe Haven, Muizenberg and Saliña were charted again by means of aerial photographs. The
Infrastructure department will have to anticipate the intended measures. During the briefing, Schotte was reproached for not assembling the emergency staff sooner when it appeared that many roads had already become impassable during the course of Monday evening, and that the preparations were insufficient. However, Anita from the fire brigade contradicts this. "We were already prepared, and already busy early in the evening during the showers, just like other departments. We operated at level 2: ‘commando, location, and incident’ and in accordance with the procedure we assembled the emergency staff when it appeared the situation was worse."
The tail of Tomas caused more rain than expected, also turning towards Curaçao in a certain way, which subsequently led to many stranded, flooded vehicles. Curaçao Road Services received approximately 100 calls yesterday. Tow trucks had driven back and forth, but some were even snarled up at a certain stage. Bulldozers were also deployed to dredge up vehicles.
There was also a warning against wading through rainwater mixed with flooded cesspools in certain districts because it harmful to public health.
Money for victims
Schotte says money will be made available for seriously duped families. Contrary to other countries, Curaçao does not have any emergency fund for such calamities. Estimations are that one out of five households (of the approx. 50,000) has furniture insurance, says Richeline Martina-Joe of the Antillean Association of Insurers. Companies generally have a stock insurance. "If it actually appears that the water damage was caused by the tail of Tomas, then this will fall under hurricane damage and is therefore covered. This was the case when the tail of Ivan in 2005 caused considerable damage on Aruba." However, it also depends on the insurance policies and companies. Vehicles are a different story, but one will still have to view the policy in case of an all risk insurance, according to Martina-Joe.
Collection Giro 881
The organization for Antilleans MAAP was started a collection for victims of the serious water damage. After consultation with the Red Cross Curaçao and the Dutch Red Cross, the following Giro account (Giro 881) was made available for financial donations.
Donations can be made via the Dutch Red Cross, The Hague via Giro account 881, mentioning Curaçao.
The organization for Antilleans MAAP was started a collection for victims of the serious water damage. After consultation with the Red Cross Curaçao and the Dutch Red Cross, the following Giro account (Giro 881) was made available for financial donations.Donations can be made via the Dutch Red Cross, The Hague via Giro account 881, mentioning Curaçao.
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