On Monday, a ferocious storm and wind gusts pounded Barbados and neighboring islands. With a population of about three lakh, the nation has been under lockdown since Sunday night.
Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said she expects the airport to resume operational in the “next six to 12 hours,” ending the shutdown prompted by a category 4 hurricane. This could mean that the Indian cricket team, who won the T20 World Cup, could be allowed to travel home on Tuesday evening. Because of Hurricane Beryl, the team lead by Rohit Sharma, its support staff, a few BCCI officials, and the players’ families have been trapped for the last two days. In the final, the team defeated South Africa by seven runs, and on Saturday, they were crowned champions.
“We hope, and we’re working towards later today. I don’t want to speak in advance of it, but I’ve literally been in touch with the airport personnel and they’re doing their last checks now and we want to resume normal operations as a matter of urgency,”
Mottley, who has been overseeing relief operations on the ground, told PTI.
“There are a number of people who were due to leave yet last night late or today or tomorrow morning. And we want to make sure that we can facilitate those persons, so I would anticipate that within the next six to 12 hours that the airport will be open,” she said.
Life-threatening winds and storm lashed Barbados and nearby islands on Monday. The country, with a population of close to three lakh, has been in a lockdown since Sunday evening.
“(We have) been working to ensure that everyone is safe in Barbados, Barbadians and all of the visitors, of course, who came for the cricket World Cup. We were very blessed that the storm did not come on land.
“The hurricane was 80 miles south of us, which limited, the level of damage on shore. But as you can see, we’ve had coastal, infrastructure and coastal assets badly damaged,” Mottley said.
“It could have been a lot worse, but now is the time to do the recovery and the cleanup.”
There is not much time to flee Bridgetown since, as Mottley disclosed, “we have another hurricane coming on Wednesday.”
With their 11-year title drought coming to an end, she hoped the Indians, who have remained at their hotel since winning the trophy, would be celebrating in spite of the lockdown.
It is highly likely that they would have maintained their positive attitude and winning spirit despite the cyclone passing through. They won in a way that was similar to how they did on Saturday. “It seems like they’ll be suspended in midair for a while,” she joked.
“It could have been a lot worse, but now is the time to do the recovery and the cleanup.”
The window for leaving Bridgetown is tight, as Mottley explained, “We have another hurricane coming on Wednesday.”
She hoped that the Indians, who have remained at their hotel since winning the trophy, would be in good spirits despite the lockdown, having ended an 11-year title drought.
“I’m confident that despite the passage of the hurricane, they would have been in a very, very, very good mood and spirit to win in the manner that they did on Saturday.” “I believe they will be floating on air for a short time,” she joked.
