2010 Hurricane Tomas

A couple of hours after its center departed Barbados, Tomas became a hurricane. The eye of the hurricane moved over the northern coast of St. Vincent around 2000 UTC 30 October, while the intense northern eyewall passed over St. Lucia. Tomas was at its peak intensity of 85 kt during that time. Tomas downed trees and power lines, ripped off roofs, and knocked out power. No casualties were reported.

For St Vincent and the Grenadines Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves described the storm as their worst in living memory. Hurricane Tomas pounded the agriculture-dependent island with torrential rain and relentless winds.
By the time the storm had passed, St Vincent's vital agriculture sector was left virtually in tatters. The initial damage estimate was US$25 million - and that was to farming alone including the important banana sector.
98 percent of bananas and plantains damaged in the affected areas.

Much of the road network was rendered impassable by landslides, subsidence caused by raging torrents of water, and blocked by fallen trees.

St Vincent suffered extensive property damage. According to Dr Gonsalves, 1200 homes have been damaged and many residents were without electricity.
Following the storm only the capital had power and there were problems with the water supply. Schools were closed and many of the buildings were used as hurricane shelters.

Overall 28 % of population were affected, of which 5% were severely affected. There was a total of EC $ 130 million in damage. (10.5% GDP)

Source: https://goo.gl/ecM4js, https://goo.gl/Q75wRm

category: 
year: 
2010

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