Normal business and government activities on Friday;
A number of Emergency Support Function (ESF) agencies have been very busy Thursday afternoon dealing with disaster operations which conducted the evacuation of six senior citizens from the emergency houses in Foga (Arch Road).
The six persons were evacuated by the Red Cross with the assistance of ESF-7 Sector Welfare and moved to the Rupert Maynard Center in St. Peters. The Red Cross has supplied sleeping cots and blankets.
After a review of conditions on the island, EOC officials are confident that normal business operations and government activities can resume as of Friday morning. Those commuting and have to pass adjacent areas near the Salt Pond should bare in mind that certain areas are covered by water, so persons leaving for work should take this into consideration and leave earlier than plan and drive with caution.
ESF-5 Police, ESF-3 Public Works and ESF-4 Fire Department were busy taking measures that fall under their respective responsibilities.
After a preliminary assessment, water levels in the Fresh Water Pond and adjacent areas have gone down a bit, however the water level in the Salt Pond is still high and although the water pumps are operating around the clock, it will take some time before the water level goes down.
This is due to the saturated hillsides where runoff water instead of soaking into the ground is running into the Salt and Fresh Water Ponds.
Philipsburg, especially areas adjacent to the Salt Pond and Pond Island remain high points of interest and the situation will be closely monitored.
Other areas of interest are parts of the Pondfill Road, Suckergarden Road and the Arch Road. The section of the Pondfill Road between the old Van Dorp and the Prins Bernhard Bridge will remain closed on Friday due to the high water.
Authorities are pleased that the advice to stay off the roadways and remain indoors has been adhered too. This allowed emergency agencies to move around unhindered and at the same time there was no accidents or persons getting hurt, due to the precautionary advice given.
Emergency Operations Center (EOC) Chairman Acting Lt. Governor Reynold Groeneveldt would like to thank and congratulate the general public for following the advice issued earlier on Thursday.
Groeneveldt would also like to commend the ESFs who diligently worked to manage a serious and potential dangerous situation of flooding caused by several days of continuous rainfall.