Hurricane Tomas in St. Lucia

[LilyRose]

Hello ladies, 

 

Seem like St. Lucia was very affected by Tomas this weekend.  The town of Soufriere (where the UNESCO Pitons are) is the most damaged.  At least 12 persons died (including tourists).  UVF airport is still closed and many roads and bridges too.  It's really sad.  News said that Tomas was the worst storm in the Island "living memory".  Hurricanes are rare in St. Lucia usually.  We hope that everyone is safe now (communication lines still not working.)  They evaluate the damages to 100 millions of dollars.  Plantations, livestock, houses, everything has been affected.  I do not know yet how my resort is affected by the storm.  I wanted to book our group tomorrow but now I'm not sure. 

[Tropical Imaging]

Hey Lily Rose,

 

I am from the Turks and Caicos (15 years now) and have experienced many hurricanes on the ground as well as seeing everything the media reports.  First of all, wait a full 2 weeks before making any decisions.  A week max is usually what it takes to get power, communications etc going in the major areas, Resorts will be taking care of their employees and any tourist there with limited resources.  The second week is for the resort to assess what damage (if any) has happened and let them regroup.  You have a good 7 months for them to get sorted which is plenty of time.   With the damage to the agricultural crops, the country will be needing tourism more than ever and unfortunately the sensational media reports will cause many to cancel vacations when their vacations will be fine.  Tourism will be a top priority because that brings money in. 

 

One of the main reasons this is so damaging to St lucia and St vincent is first the loss of life and second the destruction of the agriculture (banana and plantain crops which account for up to 40-60% export and GDP).    I have yet to see any reports of resorts and destruction or seen footage of those (and I guarantee if it had happened it would be on the media).   Everything I am reading on the storm carib site is talking about the water damage (flooding) and road damage to certain areas (these are reports from natives and expats logging on from St Lucia and telling what is going on in their areas, I still don't see anything about resorts.)  It's going to be a week or two just to get communications up and assess everything. 

 

3 years ago the Turks and Caicos was hit with a Category 5 hurricane head on.   On two of our smaller (not touristy islands) we had many homes  and buildings (that were 30-40 years old and not to hurricane standard) destroyed.  Provo, the main tourist island, had some trees and power lines down but that was it, as all of our resorts and most homes here are well above standard.  The  headlines for over a week on all of the newswires and TV reports was that 90% of the Turks and Caicos islands were destroyed.  On one of our islands with a poplulation of 400 people, over 90% of the homes were destroyed (there are no resorts there) but on our main island we were all fine.   It was a nightmare for hotels because people cancelled based on news reports which were sensationalized to the extreme.    Give yourself a few weeks and then call the hotel directly (or your wedding planner etc). 

 

I hope and expect you will get good news! 

 

Krys

 

[LilyRose]

Thank you so much Krys, 

 

You are right, the medias seems to make it look worse.  The owner of the resort already wrote to me personally saying that the resort is fine. "We have not had damages". It seems that the roads are the most affected but since I am going in July, it will be resolved by then.  The resort is fully operational and the airport is scheduled to reopen Friday. You are right Krys, the island will need tourism and I'm sure that the St. Lucia will still be gorgeous to visit.

 

Krys said:

"The  headlines for over a week on all of the newswires and TV reports was that 90% of the Turks and Caicos islands were destroyed.  On one of our islands with a poplulation of 400 people, over 90% of the homes were destroyed (there are no resorts there) but on our main island we were all fine.   It was a nightmare for hotels because people cancelled based on news reports which were sensationalized to the extreme. "

This is so sad.  I hope the tourism is back now.

 

 

Thank you again for your kind words, 

 

LilyRose

 

[CamLovesJA]

Hi LilyRose

 

I completely agree with Krys, and the fact that the hotel contacted you is great news so I am sure everything is fine.

 

St Lucia is a beautiful Island and I am sure you will have a fantastic wedding and vacation. July is such a good time to go as well, it will be amazing.

 

Thoughts and prayers going out to all those who are affected by the hurricane.

 

Camilla x

[Tropical Imaging]

If the owner has contacted you the day after and told you things were fine, believe it.  It means communications and power is up 24 hours later, that is a huge positve sign.  Thanks for the concern about the T&C.  We're doing well.  Our company went out 24 hours after the storm hit and took photos of all of the resorts and beaches and posted them on our blog to prove we were fine (we still had people asking if we had faked the photos because news reports were so dire LOL).  We're hoping to only get rain and TS winds from Tomas this weekend and then hopefully a great 2011 season!    Enjoy your planning!

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DWbridetobe]

Hey ladies, my wedding was scheduled for Friday of this week (and we were supposed to leave this past Sunday) at the Sandals Regency in St. Lucia. Unfortunately, the airport was down and my entire trip has been canceled. My travel agent (whom has a representative on the island) has said that most of the resorts suffered no damage, and as soon as the roads are functional again, everything will be good to go. She's estimating 4 months MAX. With your wedding being in July, I'm positive that everything will be perfect by then. 

[starchild]

Oh no, so sorry to hear about your wedding being postponed!  (and the damage to the island, of course).  Keep your spirits up!  I'm sure your wedding will be fabulous when it does happen

[mistibuard]

Sorry to hear about your travel plans being cancelled. I truly wish you all the best.
 

Originally Posted by DWbridetobe 

Hey ladies, my wedding was scheduled for Friday of this week (and we were supposed to leave this past Sunday) at the Sandals Regency in St. Lucia. Unfortunately, the airport was down and my entire trip has been canceled. My travel agent (whom has a representative on the island) has said that most of the resorts suffered no damage, and as soon as the roads are functional again, everything will be good to go. She's estimating 4 months MAX. With your wedding being in July, I'm positive that everything will be perfect by then. 

[CamLovesJA]

All the best with your new wedding date. I am sure it will turn out perfectly 

[LilyRose]

Thanks for sharing the info DWbridetobe,

 

I appreciate your island rep opinion.:-)

 

I 'm sorry to hear about your wedding being cancelled.  Keep us updated.  I hope that the "replanning" will be smooth, you deserve it!

 

 

Best wishes,

 

Lilyrose