Coastline businesses mop up after Omar
Hopeful of quick recovery

By VonDez Phipps
Reporter-SKNVibes.com

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – COASTAL properties, both residential and commercial, received the brunt of Omar’s fury when the hurricane spurned huge waves and dumped rocks and sand onto the islands’ shorelines in the pre-dawn hours of Thursday (Oct. 16).

Sprat Net, situated on the most western end of Old Road Bay, barely weathered the pounding of the sea, which gutted the popular restaurant, replacing furniture with sand and boulders.

Owner and Manager of Sprat Net, Jack Spencer said, “For the type of storm, we expected water damage. We can’t say that it’s too extensive; it looked terrible when we started to clean up early in the morning but by the time we were finished, things seemed much better.

“After the storm though, it was very good to see all the people who came out to help us; people with shovels, rakes and hoes. I must commend all of them, those from Old Road, patrons of the restaurant and all kinds of people who I don’t even know, and all of them were helping in whatever way they could to clean up the site.”

Spencer informed that the water broke into the back windows of the kitchen, damaged ovens and gas pipelines and had the standing freezers floating around the facility. He added that the roof of the gazebo and the entire deck along with fencing and furniture had been destroyed. He projected that the restaurant should be open for regular service next Wednesday, October 22.

The other major coastal business in the area, St. Kitts Marine Works Ltd., located at New Guinea was also the target of the sea’s rage during the passage of the category-two hurricane. Manager Regiwell Francis reported that although great damage was done to the breakwater and the tugboat, there was no damage to the boats in the yard or the facility itself.

“The breakwater was not completed to its full strength, so it did get damaged. The hurricane washed away sand and some of the smaller stones, but all of the 3-ton and 5-ton stones were unmoved. In fact, the breakwater did its job in reducing the impact of the waves on the yard.

~~Adz:Left~~ “This [Hurricane Omar] was far more intense than [Hurricane] Lenny in terms of the coastal effects. The ocean came over the road and reached up to where the travel-lift was and left large pools of water and debris.”

Francis informed that the company is now focussing on assisting with trucking and moving boulders, trees and debris from Old Road Bay, and will be clearing the Fisheries Yard and returning Old Road to its normal state. He mentioned that cleanup of the facility would begin on Tuesday, October 21, after which work at St. Kitts Marine Works Ltd. should continue.