A storm on the night of 18th/19th July 2019 caused significant damage on Tristan da Cunha.
This page covers of all aspects of the emergency, including the damage caused, repairs and other relief efforts.
Move back to St Mary's School after the Storms |
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| Almost a year after the July 2019 storm, students have moved from temporary accommodation back to the 'Old School' 31-Aug-2020 |
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Progress Report on Storm Damage at St Mary's School, March 2020 |
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| Photo report on the state of the school in January 2020, with an update on the situation in March. 19-Mar-2020 |
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Drone Footage of the Damage Caused by the July 2019 Storm
Filmed by Robin Repetto
The knocking out of normal communications by the July 2019 storm, and Tristan's limited internet bandwidth once communications were restored meant that only still photographs of the damage could be sent to the outside world. However, these pictures played a key role in assessing the damage and mustering outside help.
With Robin currently off the island with better internet access, he has been able to upload the following 10 minute drone footage of the aftermath to his Youtube channel. It illustrates even more vividly the extent of the damage caused by the storm. Bear in mind that this only shows the external damage. The damaged buildings were also wrecked internally to a lesser or greater extent.
At the time of posting (March 2020), repairs to the school were still taking place, and the Tristan da Cunha Association was supporting the restoration of the school through its Emergency Fund Appeal.
Another Damaging Storm Hits Tristan
Announcement from Administrator Sean Burns, via UK Representative Chris Carnegy
In a satellite phone call to UK Representative Chris Carnegy today (3rd November 2019), Administrator Sean Burns reports that the island was hit last night by another damaging storm. This was very much like the July event in terms of wind speed/direction and with similar, but slightly smaller, consequences.
No one is hurt.
One islander's home has roof damage. Neighbours are helping with repairs.
Public buildings are again affected: the Administration and Police buildings, where July repairs had been nearing completion, are hit. Thankfully the Post Office and Tourism Centre escaped damage.
An all-hands day will be held tomorrow (Monday) to start tackling the damage.
Comminications are out of action; the only link is via satellite phone.
The Governor has been informed.
Governor Philip Rushbrook adds:
The Governor’s Office will maintain contact with Sean Burns and advise if any new problems arise. Whilst this is a step back my hope is it can be remedied quickly with the materials and people on island.
Post July Storm School Report |
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| Update on how education continues in temporary accommodation, and plans for the restoration of St Mary's school. 24-Oct-2019 |
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Update on storm damage repairs, 16th October 2019
Report from Administrator Sean Burns
Communications
Since the last update, a Vodafone / Foreign and Commonwealth Office engineer has visited to check, repair and update the satellite communications equipment. The phones continue to work well and all government departments now have an internet connection. We are rolling out the internet to the community this week via a new wifi system. Our small amount of bandwidth is challenging but we hope that people will be able to get some connectivity. The TV and radio are now working fine.
Police Station repairs in progress with Inspector Conrad Glass looking on
Police Station
A team of pensioners (Joseph, Roger, Jack and Dougie) have already replaced the ceiling and the office partitions. Connie has taken the opportunity to make some alterations. Robin and the electrical team have almost completed the electrical work. A visiting team from South Africa will re-roof the building and Inspector Conrad Glass and Sharon Glass hope to be back in sometime in November.
Two views above and below of the Post Office and Tourism Centre as repairs continue
Post Office and Tourism Centre
The contractors have split their time between working in the centre and re-roofing depending on the weather and are moving fast on this project. Iris, Dawn and the team have also taken the opportunity to redesign the layout to better suit their needs. This building will also need a new roof. The team hope to be back in by December.
Two views, above and below of work progressing in the Council Chamber,
part of the Administration Building.
Administration Building
The PWD team has been working with another group of pensioners (Eric, Ches, Herbert, Stanley, Terence, Brian and Alan). All the ceilings have been repaired and redecorated. Masonite has been replaced and they are now retiling. Electrical work will soon be finished and the new roof will go on this week. We hope to be back in the office in the next two weeks. Once we are out of the residency where the temporary office is, work can then start there. This should not take long so Marina and I hope we can move back home by early November.
St Mary's School
The teams will then combine and focus on the school, which we hope will be ready for the January start. That work will need completing before mid-December. The school are in the process of compiling a list of materials and equipment they lost in the storm that money raised by the Tristan da Cunha Association and fundraisers on St Helena and have very kindly helped with. This is much appreciated.
The PWD Mechanical Store starting to be repaired.
Mechanical Sheds
The contractors have this week completed the recladding and reroofing of the mechanical workshop. Contractors have also completed the frame for the mechanical store, ready for all the materials arriving in November for harbour repairs (which are not July storm related)
Boat Sheds
We will then move on to fixing up the boat sheds and some of the outbuildings that suffered damage.
Summary
So work is continuing and we are making good progress. Everyone is working hard in between all their other work responsibilities plus fishing, planting and everything else islanders have to do. We are very grateful to the pensioners coming back to work. They are going a great job and seem to be enjoying themselves in the process!
'So This is Tristan da Cunha' update now available |
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| A revised 2019 edition of Nigel Humphries' photo guide to Tristan da Cunha in 1974-1978 has been published in aid of the Emergency Fund. 19-Sep-2019 |
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Update as Storm Relief Voyage Team gets to work
Report and photos from Tristan da Cunha Administrator Sean Burns
received on 29th August 2019
Structural Engineer Oliver Ingham with Inspector Conrad Glass inside the severely damaged Tristan Police Station.
Photos on this page were taken on 19th and 20th August.
A survey has been carried out by a structural engineer and I am pleased to report that there are no major structural issues with the Administration, Post Office/Tourism, Police Station, School and Residency buildings. Rebuilding any or all of these would have been a logistical and financial challenge. That said, they are all in a very poor state following the wind and water damage. Some will require a complete rewire and all need a total or partial refurbishment. This will take some months and given the pressure on the government workforce we will need external contractors here to lend a hand. We are in the process of identifying and recruiting these. We already have quite a few materials on the island but more will be needed. In the meantime, we continue to clear these buildings of debris to enable work to start as soon as possible. We have two teams of pensioners helping us with this. Their help has been invaluable.
Surveying the School Hall damage.
The communications team have been working through a programme and all the phones are now working. The internet is on but for the moment, restricted to government departments. With the arrival of more equipment earlier this week we hope to have all departments on line in the next few days. The internet café is open to the public. We hope to be able to extend internet service to the public once the equipment room has been properly surveyed and new equipment checked by an engineer who we hope will be visiting on the next ship. TV and radio were restored this week. The radio station, which also lost its roof, has relocated to the café. They will stay there until their new building, which was already under construction before the storm, is complete. The VHF repeaters have been checked and there has been some damage but we hope to have full coverage around the island and to Nightingale and Inaccessible soon.
Above and below: Oliver Ingham surveys the badly damaged Post Office and Tourism Centre,
above with Dawn Repetto and Iris Green.
Various other departments have had to relocate. The Treasury are in one of the government houses, the Police are working from Inspector Glass's study at home, the Administrator's office has set up in the residency and the Post Office/Tourism team are working from the Prince Philip Hall.
How you can help
In terms of assistance, we are very grateful to all of those who have contributed to the Tristan Association appeal on our www.tristandc.com website, which has a dedicated July Storm section and an Emergency Fund Appeal [closed February 2021]. We will rely on grants that the Association will be able to forward to the island.
Continued assistance (financial and technical) from the UK government is also much appreciated and we are also grateful for the Red Cross appeal on St Helena.
Photos above and below show inside the damaged Tristan Council Chamber
The Administrator's Office awaiting attention
Emergency Fund Appeal, including JustGiving |
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| The Tristan da Cunha Association has launched an Emergency Fund aiming to raise £25,000 in donations towards the restoration of the island following the damaging storm of July 2019. 16-Aug-2019 |
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July Storm Impact Update, 15th August 2019
General Report four weeks after the 18th July Storm
View from a drone camera operated by Robin Repetto shows the row of Government buildings
severely damaged by the 18th July Storm, including the Transport Warehouse,
Police Station, Administration Building, and Post Office and Tourism Centre.
Life on Tristan is slowly getting back to some order as work continues as normal for those who had no storm damage, while others are coping in their temporary workplaces. Thankfully now the phones are all in working order and contact can be made with family and friends away. Internet is up and running in the workplace, but the community only has access via the Internet Café. Sadly, the television is not yet on, so people miss the news and other programmes.
This is the second week for the children back at school. They seem to have settled in well in their new premises and are all now catching up on lessons they missed out on during the storm.
Administration Building workers, including the Administrator's Private Secretary Cynthia Green and Island Council Clerk Geraldine Repetto have set up office in the Rectory, but internet access was only set up on Friday 9th August.
The community eagerly awaits the arrival of the MFV Edinburgh, presently expected on Saturday 17th, and hope for fine weather so that Administrator Sean Burns and his wife Marina, as well as the team onboard coming to assess the damage, will land safely and all the materials for repairs get offloaded.
One silver lining of the storm was newly available firewood as during the storm, heavy rain caused the gulches to flood and carry wood down from the mountain. There was also a landside to the east of the settlement at Pigbite, where many trees were washed down into the sea. The salt sea water then hardens the wood and with the heavy swells pushes the wood back onto the beach. It is perfect for firewood and with a lot of people having fireplaces it saves on gas.
Chief Islander James Glass has updated a previous report which mentioned that only one island house (belonging to Rodney Green and family) was damaged. In addition, Nigel Lavarello had part of his front roof taken off as well, and other islanders had broken windows, water into their houses, damage to their roofs, sheds and huts.
James also noted that as the Electrical Project funded by DIFID a few years ago ran power cables underground, the island only suffered a short loss of electric power. After the 2001 storm, when the wires were run on poles around the village, island homes were without power for six days.
Robin Repetto's photo above shows that only the main girders remain of the 'Disaster Building', designed to provide shelter on the Patches Plain in the event of the village being threatened by landslides enduced by an earthquake or a volcanic eruption. Obviously not storm-proof.
Robin Repetto's photo shows typical damage to islanders' huts at the Potato Patches, used to 'camp' overnight.
Lorraine Repetto's photo shows an upturned container, wall collapse (these black boulders are black lava blocks from the 1961 volcanic eruption, used widely for wall-making in the village) and the damaged Government Guest House behind.
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| Two views of the damaged fish factory from Lorraine Repetto. | |
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| Two views at Calshot Harbour from Lorraine Repetto show water cascading onto the quay and the barge Atlantic Wave just about held by its mooring rope. |
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Thatched House Museum Survives the July 2019 Storm |
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| The only building on Tristan roofed with with traditional New Zealand flax thatch survived the July 2019 storm with only minor damage. 9-Aug-2019 |
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St Mary's School July Storm Impact
St Mary's School re-opened in termporary accommodation on Monday 5th August.
This updated page shows early photographs of damage to the school, followed by a photo report of the re-opening of the school below.
Aerial photos taken by Robin Repetto using a drone camera on 30th July 2019
View looking south-east towards the 1961 volcanic cone
shows large areas of roofing torn from rooms off the entrance hall and central quadrangle.
View looking south showing the extensive damage above St Mary's School Hall,
beyond, the large blue-roofed building with the flagpole outside is the Prince Philip Hall;
Previously published photos of the school taken by Acting Administrator Lorraine Repetto
View of the damaged roof of St Mary's School viewed from the internal quadrangle.
Two views, above and below, of the main hall at St Mary's School, showing the gaping roof
(separate from the upper photo damage) and an early view from Robin Repetto of debris scattered on the floor.
The high roof of the hall and extensive roofing damage to the main classroom roofs,
mean that repair of the school will be a major job.
The school is situated at the eastern end of the Settlement and bore the first brunt
of the south-east gale on the night of Thursday 18th July.
Setting up a temporary school
Work proceeded to set up a temporary school in the Tristan Crèche and adjacent rooms. The work took longer than planned, so classes didn't begin until Monday 5th August. The Crèche needed to be made watertight and adjoining rooms usually used for accommodation converted for educational use.
Photo from James Glass showing the Tristan Crèche which was damaged by the July storm,
but can be brought back to use for school lessons more quickly than the extensively damaged St Mary's School.
An early photograph take by Lorraine Repetto soon after the storm struck showing
part of the accommodation rooms alongside the Tristan Crèche.
Note the debris of equipment, including children's toys used in the Crèche.
The scenes here show the scale of the job to get this complex ready to receive pupils and teach them safely. The Tristan da Cunha Association has now opened its Emergency Fund. UK taxpayers are asked to fill in the Gift Aid form as we may extend the scope of the Tristan Education Trust Fund to make grants to the Tristan Government to pay for refurbishment of St Mary's School which will be major, and as yet unknown, expense.
School Re-Opens in Crèche Complex: Photos from Kelly Green
St Mary's School re-opened on Monday 5th August after a break of over two weeks following the July Storm. The photos below were taken on the opening day and show bright, airy but cramped rooms all situated in temporary buildings which normally house the Crèche and also provide accommodation for visiting contractors. The Crèche remains in its familiar space, but the school occupies the smaller accommodation pods.
The Crèche
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| Class 4 | Another classroom |
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Left: The central corridor We await news of where expats |
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| Crèche and Playgroup having lunch | The Playgroup Room |
Acting Administrator interviewed by the BBC about the storm
| Acting Administrator Lorraine Repetto was interviewed by Dotun Adebayo on the 5th August 2019 about the July storm for BBC Radio 5 Live's "Up all night" programme. The interview lasted just over 12 minutes. It was broadcast at about 1:20am and repeated at about 4:20am. |  |
| Listen to Lorraine's interview [MP3] | |
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The full programme will be available for a while on BBC Sounds at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0007btq The interview starts 20m 27s into the program and is repeated at 3h 19m 48s. |
The July 2019 Storm and the Post Office and Tourism Centre |
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| Reports on damage within the Post Office and Tourism Centre, and progress with provision of alternative facilities. 3-Aug-2019 |
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Latest July Storm reports and images
A storm caused widespread damage in Tristan's settlement in July 2019. This page reports on the damage and progress with repairs. See our Storm of July 2019 page for the full story.
Report and Photos from Chief Islander James Glass
Photo taken from Calshot Harbour shows the roof-damaged Fisheries Department Boathouse on the quay,
and, on the clifftop the Conservation Department Boathouse also with its roof largely removed.
Beyond to the right are two steel containers toppled on their sides illustrating vividly the strength of the wind on the night of 18th July. A top wind speed of 173km/h (107.5mph) was recorded that night. The anemometer itself failed before the storm reached its zenith.
All these photos were taken on 20th July 2019.
Photo taken from behind the Administration Building (still out of bounds) showing the roofing removed from above the Council Chamber and Administrator's Office. The lower ground floor (Far left) houses the Internet Café.
Snow can be seen lying at the top of Hottentot Gulch and the cliffs eastward. Over last weekend snow was seen lying on the 1961 volcanic cone and in Hottentot Gulch on the Settlement Plain. It may be the first time snow has been observed at this low altitude, but this needs to be verified.
James Glass joined other Heads of Department who are presently sharing the only available working computers in the Internet Café.
James thanks the Tristan Association for thinking of islanders in their time of need and establishing the new Emergency Fund. Summarising the event, James clarifies the considerable damage to the lower Settlement area where th scale of destruction to Government buildings far excceded that of the 2001 storm, but noting that noone was hurt and the fact that damage to island homes was less serious.
The most severely damaged island home belongs to Rodney Green and his family, who are currently overseas. Here the roof damage was caused by a fallen tree and a sheet of zinc from the school went through the kitchen window.
Shell of the PWD Storage Building
View of the Government Accommodation with the roof peeled back by the storm
Island Council agrees Fish Quotas for each island |
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| Plans ensure conservation of Tristan Lobster stocks 30-Jul-2019 |
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Latest Storm News from the island
A storm caused widespread damage in Tristan's settlement in July 2019. This page reports on the damage and progress with repairs. See our Storm of July 2019 page for the full story.
The storm which buffeted the Tristan da Cunha Settlement on the night of Thursday 18th July
caused widespread damage, and is regarded as the most damaging natural disaster
to effect the island since the October 1961 volcanic eruption.
This is the latest update as the community starts to repair the damage.
Older photo of Tristan da Cunha showing the 1961 lava flow and the Settlement
Report and photos from Acting Administrator Lorraine Repetto
Sending emails from the Internet Cafe on Saturday 27th July 2019
Saturday is a cold day with hail squalls, so conditions not very pleasant for the teams repairing damage. Hopefully they will make some progess.
Some aspects of village life have been unaffected by the storm and the Island Store, Hospital & Churches are functioning as normal. The Albatross Bar is not yet operational.
The Administration Building remains out of bounds. The Finance Department will move to a Government guest house on Monday 29th and should be operational before long.
The severely damaged St Mary's School has been closed since the storm. Once the Crèche has been made watertight, classes will move into adjacent rooms and lessons should resume next week.
The Albatross Bar is not yet operational but the Internet Café is working and is being used for key people like Lorraine to be able to send and receive emails while offices are out of action.
We await more information on the severely damaged St Mary’s School and fishing factory (other than photos) as well as the harbour and areas beyond the Settlement.
Lorraine's photos below sent on 25th July show more scenes of damage in the Tristan Settlement
CEO House with damaged roof
Interior of the Police Station wrecked by the storm
Foreground shows the search and rescue RIB boat house;
behind the roofless Police Station and beyond the Administration Building.
Radio / Communications Building
Progress Report on 18th July storm damage and repairs
Reports from Acting Administrator Lorraine Repetto
and Administrator Sean Burns
The storm which buffeted the Tristan da Cunha Settlement on the night of Thursday 18th July
caused widespread damage, and is regarded as the most damaging natural disaster
to effect the island since the October 1961 volcanic eruption.
This is the latest update as the community starts to repair the damage.
Team working to shore up the north end of the Administration Building roof during the morning of 25th July.
This section of roof is above the Council Chamber and Administrator's Office which were extensively damaged.
The building itself remained out of bounds that day and therefore no Administration or Treasury staff could work there.
Photographs on this page were the first to be sent as ordinary email attachments from the island on 25th July by Lorraine Repetto - photographers are unknown at this time.
Communications with the island
Tristan restored limited phone and internet contact on Thursday 25th July. Damage to key offices, for example the main Administration Building was still declared 'out of bounds' due to structural damage, means usual work stations are not operating. Therefore emails to particular accounts may not get through and replies are likely to be much delayed.
A further update received on Friday 26th July confirms that, although phones are working, there are issues for people phoning in. Callers may get a correct calling signal, phone may be picked up, a voice may be heard on the island, but incoming callers may not hear anything. If this occurs, leave a brief message identifying yourself and requesting a call back, as outgoing calls seem to be more effective.
Another storm threatens the badly damaged Post Office and Tourism Centre
Views above and below show inside the Post Office and Tourism Centre. This most prized island facility contains all the philatelic stock, precious artefacts in the Tristan Museum and normally is the work base for the Post Office and Tourism Teams who lead the provision of island news and photographs for the website. Clearly it will take some time for damage to be assessed, and, hopefully repaired.
Repairs Update
Lorraine reported on Friday 26th July that the island teams have done a great job carrying out emergency repairs to make the following buildings as watertight as possible: Administration Building, Communications Room, CEO House and The Residency. Presently teams are working to waterproof the Creche, Post Office and Tourism Centre, and clear up the village and government areas generally.
Head of Tristan Post Office Iris Green has reported that the gable end of the Post Office and Tourism Centre is badly cracked. Elsewhere the severely damaged Mechanical Building store is being cleared prior to the building being dismantled.
View of the damaged roof of St Mary's School viewed from the internal quadrangle.
Two views, above and below, of the main hall at St Mary's School, showing the gaping roof (separate from the top photo damage) and an early view of debris scattered on the floor. The high roof of the hall and extensive roofing damage to the main classroom roofs, mean that repair of the school will be a major job. The school is situated at the eastern end of the Settlement and bore the first brunt of the south-east gale on the night of Thursday 18th July.
Relief Voyage Delay
Preparations to obtain materials and assemble key staff for departure on MFV Edinburgh are on-going. In order to ensure all necessary materials can be loaded it is expected that the ship will depart Cape Town on Thursday 8th August.
The MFV Geo Searcher is scheduled to depart Cape Town on Friday 16th August for the first extended 2019-2020 fishing trip to the outer islands of Nightingale, Inaccessible and Gough.
Tristan da Cunha Association Response
The UK-based Tristan da Cunha Association run this website and it is hoped to provide regular bulletins on these pages throughout the clear-up period. As this is a priority, other reports may be delayed.
The August Tristan da Cunha Newsletter is being printed this week and it has been decided to publish an additional supplement to be enclosed with the newsletter on the July 2019 Storm. Copies of the newsletter will be posted w/b 29th July.
The association will also be launching a new 'Emergency Fund' so that friends of the island can make donations to help the Tristan community get back to normal.
Friends of the island who are not already members, and therefore will not receive the 44-page full colour newsletter and July Storm Supplement, are encouraged to join now - see the Tristan Association section for more information: https://www.tristandc.com/association.php. The Emergency Fund will be launched as soon as possible.
Storm Update 24th July 2019 and Further Pictures
Update from Administrator Sean Burns. Photos by Robin Repetto, facilitated by Maxime Le Maillot
Speaking to Lorraine yesterday (23th July), the island teams have been making a real effort to start clearing up, and where possible repair and make some buildings water tight. The MFV Edinburgh is ready to sail at short notice, so the departure date depends on the lead time for some of the essential materials needed for the repairs, but we are still working on a departure next week.
Thanks to all who have sent messages of support or direct messages. I have passed these on.
Further Photographs
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| Blown over lamp post, shipping container, etc. | Blasted Portacabin office, and neighbouring roof |
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| External view of the workshop damage | Damaged transformer building |
As more photos come in, it seems that the damage caused by last week's storm is at least as extensive as the 2001 'hurricane'. There have been no reports yet about the situation outside the settlement, in the Potato Patches, the back of the island, and on the outer islands. In 2001, there was damage in these areas and some loss of livestock.
As in our last update, the image quality is the best that can be managed using the slow and restricted capabilities of the CTBTO station's satellite link, which is the only link available. The same means of communication is being used to send weather forecasts to Tristan, which are then printed out and pinned on the public notice board.
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| It looks like the school has taken a real hit. Photos above show damage to the roof and to the school hall. | |
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| Photos above show damage inside the Fishing Factory | |
Storm Update 22nd July 2019 and First Pictures
Report from Administrator Sean Burns. Photos by Robin Repetto; transmitted by Maxime Le Maillot
The island has now forwarded the list of materials needed to start emergency repairs and we are grateful for the UK government's swift response for assistance to procure these and other support. That process has started.
Ovenstone are mobilising the MV Edinburgh to depart sometime next week, just as soon as we can take delivery of the necessary materials. The company has sustained damage to the factory and will also need to bring out their own equipment. Contractors for both government and the company will be on board. We also hope there will be an IT engineer to check the satellite link for phone and the internet, which remains down. The company will be bringing out an engineer to check the power generators. Marina and I will also be returning to the island next week.
If anyone has any urgent messages to relay to the island please email me on tristandcadmin@gmail.com and I will pass these on during my calls with the island.
First Pictures
The following photographs of the storm damage were taken by Robin Repetto and sent to Sean by Maxime Le Maillot using the dedicated satellite link of the CTBTO scientific stations (located close to the hospital). Their satellite link is still working, but it takes a lot of time and work as the link is really slow. This explains the quality of the pictures. However, this is better than nothing, because this is the only way to get pictures from TdC.
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| Damage to the Government Building | Damage inside the Council Chamber |
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| Part of the Residency roof torn off | Roof peeled back on the CEO house |
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| Police Station minus most of its roof with damaged Post Office and Tourism Centre in the background | Devastation inside the Police Station |
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| Damage inside the Post Office and Tourism Centre | Mechanical Workshop stripped of its roof |
Lord Ahmad's statement on Tristan da Cunha after severe storms
Statement from Lord Ahmad,
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Foreign and Commonwealth Office, London |
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Tristan da Cunha, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic, has been hit by severe storms this week. The UK Government is working with the local government to help the island get back on its feet. To help, funding has been principally agreed for emergency repairs. Contractors to help with repairs have been identified and are on standby to travel to the island next week. |
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Lord (Tariq) Ahmad of Wimbledon, Minister of State for the Overseas Territories, said: "Our quick response to the storms in Tristan de Cunha, which is in the South Atlantic, embodies the broader preparedness work the UK Government is doing to be ready for the 2019 hurricane season in the Caribbean." "Hurricanes Irma and Maria left some Overseas Territories badly affected in 2017. We are working closely with all Territories so they are better prepared for natural disasters before they strike." To further the UK's quick response to the storms on Tristan, the Foreign Office are looking at options to send an engineer and equipment to the island to restore FCO's satellite link, which provides phone and internet to the whole island. The Administrator is currently off-Island (in the UK), but is in contact with his team via satellite phone and is making plans to return on the relief ship next week. The UK's Governor, resident on nearby Overseas Territory St Helena, and the Foreign Office are exploring other options for assistance. Island representatives have thanked the UK for their quick response. |
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Damaging July 2019 Storm
Report from Administrator Sean Burns
We received news yesterday that a storm on the night of Thursday 18th July 2019 had caused damage on the island. I have now spoken to Acting Administrator Lorraine Repetto who has confirmed that everyone is well and there have been no injuries. Although there has been extensive damage to government buildings and some government housing. Apart from one house, island private accommodation has not been badly damaged. As always, the islanders have rallied round today to repair the one damaged house. There was a power cut but power has now been restored, and the island store and warehouse are intact so everyone has access to dry and frozen food. The hospital is fine.
The Police Station, Tourism and Post Office, Mechanical Workshop, Administration Building, Communications Building and other government buildings lost their roofs, and have suffered extensive wind and water damage. Many windows have also been broken. The communications equipment room was flooded and it will take some time to assess if the telephones and Internet can be repaired, and if they can, how quickly. In the meantime we are keeping in touch via back up satellite phones.
The island is now assessing the damage and what materials we will need to make the necessary repairs and I am looking in to how we can do this as quickly as possible.