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THE passage of Hurricane Elsa across the Windward Islands resulted in power outages, fallen trees, flooding and damaged homes in Barbados and St Vincent and the Grenadines.
At 8.30 am on Friday, Tropical Storm Elsa was upgraded to a category 1 hurricane and Barbados was put under a hurricane warning.
This warning was later downgraded to a tropical storm warning and then discontinued entirely.
On Friday morning, the Barbados Met Office said the hurricane was passing "just south of Barbados," and that a flash-flood warning had been in effect.
But in a later update, it said, "Elsa is currently moving towards the west-northwest (290 degrees) at 44 km/hr. This motion is expected to continue during the next few days. Hurricane Elsa passed south of the island a few hours ago."
It warned, however: "This discontinuation is not an all-clear. Please await the all-clear to be issued by the Department of Emergency Management."
There were several reports of house roofs being blown away by strong winds and a tree had fallen on a house.
Newsday columnist BC Pires lives in St Philip, Barbados. At around midday on Friday, he said he had been without electricity since 3 am, along with many others.
“We have not had power back and we are unlikely to get power back today. They did say it’s a main line that’s down, so if that main line is restored, power may come back for a lot of people.
“The single most worrying thing was the period between 5 am and 9.30 am, where the very, very strong winds – strong enough to blow 15-inch solid concrete blocks from off a ledge – those winds with the heavy rain, that was really, really worrying.”
He said a lot of people opted to stay at shelters instead of remaining at home, especially as “several people have water coming into their homes because the wind is so strong.”
A Barbadian from the parish of Christ Church said, "Well, the winds are really high and it's pouring. But on some call-in programmes, I'm hearing (about) some roofs being blown off...the screens from our drive-in (cinema) blew down."
There was also a hurricane warning in St Vincent and the Grenadines. St Lucia. Martinique and Dominica are under a tropical storm warning and Grenada under tropical storm watch.
Vincentians told Newsday there was heavy rain but no damage to homes. In an afternoon update, its Met Office said the hurricane warning had been downgraded to a tropical storm warning.
It is now two months since the La Soufriere volcano in that country erupted, coating several areas in volcanic ash. Vulcanologists have warned of possible lahars (mudflows) whenever there is heavy rainfall as far as next year.
The Vincentian Met Office issued a release on Friday saying, "Sustained surface winds between 75-95 MPH with higher gusts are expected to spread across St Vincent and the Grenadines for the remainder of the morning persisting into the evening with light rain and pockets of intense showers and thunderstorm activity."
It warned, "This rainfall could cause life-threatening flash floods and mudslides."
The National Emergency Management Organisation there reported impassable roads and power outages across the country including Riley, Mesopotamia and Sandy Bay.
One citizen told Newsday, "At this moment, I live in the south and it is overcast, whitish and still."
At 1 pm, there were nine open hurricane shelters in St Vincent and the Grenadines and 47 people housed there.
The St Lucia Met Office said it will continue to "closely monitor" the situation.
It said, "Elsa is expected to produce rainfall totals of three to six inches or 76-152 mm with maximum totals of ten inches or 254 mm across the Windward Islands and southern Leeward Islands. This increases the potential for landslides and/or flash flooding. Residents and motorists in areas prone to flooding and landslides are advised to take necessary precautions."
The Dominican Met Office listed possible impacts as: "Shallow rivers, streams, gutters and ravines can overflow their banks and flood surrounding areas, landslides and rock falls from overhanging cliffs due to intense rainfall, dangerous seas will be hazardous for sea-bathers, small-craft operators and people living near to or traversing coastal areas, and loose objects will become missiles in strong winds and shallow-rooted trees can fall."
A flash flood warning was in effect up to 4 pm on Friday.
Grenada's National Disaster Management Agency also issued an alert, warning its citizens of potential flash flooding, "downed trees and powerlines, landslides and rockfall.
"This system is expected to bring showers and thundershowers to Grenada and the rest of the Winward Islands on Friday."
Martinique media reported several instances of fallen trees and electrical poles as well as damaged roofs.
A 67-year-old man suffered head injuries. French radio station La Première reported that a small wind turbine fell on the elderly man’s vehicle near midday on Friday. The man was not named.
The report also said over over 10,000 people were without electricity.
The French Met Office said the hurricane was "well above" Martinique. In the early afternoon, it said the country was experiencing "a period of calm." It told citizens to be vigilant but at 4 pm, indicated weather conditions were improving.
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