Grenada Assessing Damage Caused By Heavy Rains

ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada – The Grenada government has begun an assessment of the damage caused by heavy rains associated with a shearline that affected mainly the northern and portions of the western and eastern parishes on Tuesday.

Finance Minister Dennis Cornwall told a news conference that the findings of the preliminary assessment will determine if the government files a claim with the Caribbean Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility Segregated Portfolio Company (CCRIF SPC).

Grenada is one of 19 Caribbean governments with membership of theCCRIF that was established in  2007, as the first multi-country risk pool in the world and the first insurance instrument to successfully develop parametric policies backed by both traditional and capital markets.

“Before we file a claim to that organization we must first and foremost have an assessment as to what are the damages. In other words what is the value damages incurred, once we do that we will then be able to contact the entity to file a claim if needs be,” said Cornwall, who is also the parliamentary representative for one of the areas most severely affected.

“That claim that we will be filing is not a grant it is a soft loan that we are thinking about,” he added, noting that the report from the National Disaster Management Agency (NaDMA) and other relevant agencies must be part of the government’s assessment.

NaDMA director, Dr Walters Walters, said that he could not provide a time frame when the preliminary report would be submitted, adding “I cannot tell you if it will be within a day or two but as quickly as possible”.

Foreign Affairs, Trade and Export Development Minister, Joseph Andall, told reporters that from touring his St Patrick East constituency,  there is massive infrastructural damages. “There is severe erosion and massive earth movement,” he said while confirming that at least one village has become inaccessible due to landslides.

The authorities said however that there were no reports of deaths or injuries linked to the weather,  but the homes of several families are either displaced or totally lost due to landslides.