BASSETERRE, St. Kitts - AS many people in the twin-island Federation try to bring their homes and businesses back to a state of normalcy following the passage of Tropical Storm Rafael, a number of them on St. Kitts have spoken out about their experience during and after the storm.
TS Rafael passed over the Federation between Friday night and Sunday catching many persons by surprise, as the atmosphere changed suddenly from a warm and sunny Friday afternoon.
The pockets of some individuals may be emptied due to the fact that they did not adhere to the storm warnings and had their vehicles swept away by the heavy flow of water after parking them in ghauts.
Others, including workers and school children, had to remain indoors as most places of employ were closed as well as schools’ doors during and after the passage of the storm.
SKNVibes spoke with a number of residents on the 'Eastside' of the island who gave details of the effects TS Rafael has had on them.
There were those individuals who have had flooding due to the intense rainfall, but most complaints were of the lack of water supply and continuous electricity outages.
Speaking with Denise DeFreitas-Barrett, a resident of Conaree Village, the entrepreneur said both her home and business entity had suffered due to the storm.
She explained that apart from her home being flooded, she also experienced days without electricity and water, having been deprived of both on Saturday.
She further explained that she did not receive electricity until Monday and water on Tuesday.
DeFreitas-Barrett said that she was surprised that she had to go days without electricity and water supply in Conaree, and was equally surprised to meet no water or electricity at Needsmust where she owns and operates a stationary food cart.
She explained that the shortage of electricity and water had caused her not to be able to open for business on Monday (Oct. 15) because she neither had water to cook nor electricity to keep the items that needed to be kept refrigerated.
She was however able to open yesterday (Oct. 16), even though her customer flow was not as usual.
One Cayon resident told of her "poverty-line" experience during the passage of TS Rafael, stating that her water supply was gone for so long that she had to use refrigerated water with which to bathe.
"My water went Saturday evening and it did not come back until yesterday (Oct. 16). The mini-drought was so bad that at one point I actually had to use water from out of my refrigerator to bathe with, because I had no other water," she said.
She went on to explain that she had to use both refrigerated and rain water in order to cook, noting that her experience was not one she would soon forget.
She also noted that no amount of water stored would have been enough to last throughout the days she was without supply.
While the Kittstoddart area did not have an interruption in water supply during the storm, residents of the area however woke up to an interruption in their supply yesterday morning.
The residents also complained that during the passage of TS Rafael, the electricity outages were numerous and sporadic.
One resident voiced his displeasure in the fact that his electricity supply took his refrigerator to near destruction.
"With the numerous electricity outages we been having over the past couple of weeks, an outage was expected during the storm, but not to this extent. Imagine I'm home and my lights go off, seconds later it is back on, then seconds later it is off again, and this goes on for a few more times.
"Then my refrigerator starts humming like it is singing a song, then the electricity goes out completely and stays out for a few hours. I had to run around the house and start plugging things out just to avoid them mashing up, and my refrigerator has not been working properly since then," the resident explained.
Another resident disclosed that she had to bathe in dirty water, as her water supply is always dirty after heavy rainfall, while a lady living in the Ottleys area voiced that she lost her television set as a result of the continued electricity outages.
St. Kitts Electricity Company and the Water Department both stated that they have been working around the clock to restore electricity and water supply to those who have been affected, while some persons are still doing their best the bring their homes and businesses back to normalcy.
