#describe the aftermath of the devastating super cyclone

[latestnews69]

We feel completely abandoned': Mayotte residents call for help after devastating cyclone

As we've been reporting throughout the day, hundreds of people are feared dead in Mayotte after Cyclone Chido swept a path of devastation through the island.

Here's some of the latest footage we've seen, which shows views of the neighbourhood Labattoir from above: Read more

[stephaniefchase]

Bajan News cap 9/13/2017

Good Morning #realdreamchasers. Here is your daily news cap for Wednesday, September 13th, 2017. There is a lot to read and digest so take your time. Remember you can read full articles via Barbados Today (BT), or by purchasing a Midweek  Nation Newspaper (MWN).

10 HEROES - There are at least ten heroes in the Jessamine Avenue, Bayville community today. Moments after smoke was spotted rising from one of the houses in the densely populated St Michael area, a group of youngsters leapt into action. Shirtless, some shod in slippers, they began hastily removing household possessions and ushering people from houses, while others found garden hoses and played water on flames that were licking hungrily at one of the wooden houses. The youngest was 16; the oldest was 27. Their efforts, said Acting Divisional Officer of the Barbados Fire Service, Henderson Patrick, made the difference between three houses being destroyed and an entire community being razed by a midday blaze. (MWN)

BLAZE LEAVES TWO HOMELESS - A midday fire today destroyed one house in  Jessamine Avenue, St Michael, and damaging two others, leaving one man and his son homeless. And Ricky Boyce can count himself lucky, as it was the voice of his aunt, Laurine Boyce, calling out his name that snapped him from his siesta and almost certainly saved his life. Laurine, whose house was also damaged by the fire, told Barbados TODAY it was just before midday when she heard what she thought was a tool on in her son’s workshop. However, her curiosity led her to investigate the sound, and to the discovery of the blaze. “I was at home washing when I heard this ‘shhhh’ and at first I thought it was my son who left on something in his workshop, so I went in the workshop to see, and when I got outside I saw this fire and I just started screaming for my niece, ‘Angela, Angela, fire, fire’ and then I tried to get out through the back gate and heard a noise from by my nephew house Ricky and I start screaming, ‘Ricky, Ricky, fire, fire,’” she recalled. This may have saved Ricky’s life, but the distraught father was unable to save any of his belongings. It was just last Sunday that Ricky had assisted other residents in a community clean up just outside his home, and now the community was rallying around him. Acting Divisional Officer of the Barbados Fire Service Henderson Patrick was so impressed with the community response that he took the time to thank the young men who assisted. “On behalf of our fire department I want to thank you for the tremendous work that you did in assisting the residents in getting their belongings out of their house. Some of you got your own hose and assisted the firemen and all of that lent to the final outcome that we got today. If you had not done what you did it probably would have been worse,” Patrick said. About ten young men between the ages of 17-27 who were liming not far away saw the smoke and ran up the gap to help. While some tried to save the contents of the two damaged houses, others got hoses to try to put out the fire. Three fire tenders and 16 officers from the Bridgetown and Worthing fire stations responded to the call, and an ambulance was also summoned after a young women complained of difficulty breathing. (BT)

NOWHERE TO TURN - A Bajan-Canadian couple is tonight appealing to the Barbadian authorities to come to their immediate rescue, claiming they are now at their wits end with nowhere to turn, a week after falling victim to Hurricane Irma in the British Virgin Islands (BVI). “Send a gosh darn plane already! This happened a week ago and we are sitting here and nobody has sent us help to get us out,” said a frustrated Glenna Smith, who had travelled to Tortola for business two Saturdays ago and was joined by her Barbadian husband Romeo Addison for a bit of added pleasure as the couple, who reside at Rockley in Christ Church, was celebrating their wedding anniversary and was happy for the opportunity to enjoy a “mini-getaway” in Tortola. Up to now, residents still do not have access to electricity or running water and telephones, Wi-Fi and other forms of communication are virtually non existent, except at the airport in Tortola where Barbados TODAY managed to connect briefly with Smith this afternoon via WhatsApp, as she was seemingly waiting in vain, and not for the first time this week, for news on a flight back to Barbados. Today, her hopes were further shattered after word came that an “evacuation flight” that had been arranged for all Barbadians in the BVI was diverted to another storm battered territory. Since the passage of the storm, there has been a heavy police presence on the streets of Road Town. The British Navy has also arrived to assist in the restoration of order following reports that “the whole town was looted within the first 24 hours”. A 6 p.m. to 6.a.m. curfew is currently in effect and Smith confirmed that no one was allowed out, as the Brits control the roads and try to restore safety. However, much to her disdain, the majority of those leaving today were American citizens while she and a “handful” of other Barbadians were seemingly not even being afforded a safe haven at the airport. In her frustration, Smith complained that one official had actually told them “you are just going to have to go sit in the parking lot overnight”, to which she exclaimed: “Really! we are human beings.” With anger noticeable in her voice, Smith also complained about Barbados’ handling of the crisis situation. When contacted this evening Minister of Foreign Affairs Maxine McClean requested that the information on the stranded couple be emailed to her Permanent Secretary Nigel Cox for his attention. Barbados TODAY also reached out to Director of the Regional Security System Errington Sherland who reported that an RSS team would be headed into Tortola around 1 p.m. tomorrow to pick up the stranded Barbadians. (BT)

ST. MAARTEN WAS ‘HELL’ - Hell on earth. That is how another Barbadian has described St Maarten in the wake of the passage of super hurricane Irma last week.  “It’s the worst thing ever. I would never want Bajans to go through it,” said Malissa Koeiman who, along with teachers Brian Cole and Charlene Bovell, were airlifted out of the Dutch side of the island by Barbados Defence Force (BDF) soldiers yesterday. All three are urging Barbadians to take hurricanes seriously. “We should be thankful for everything we do here, every hurricane that passes us, because the winds were like 180 miles per hour. It was very, very frightening for me because I had to keep the partition that I was staying in up with a chair so it wouldn’t come down on me,” Koeiman, a beauty therapist at a Dutch hotel, recalled. (MWN)

SO GLAD TO BE BACK - A mother’s pleas have been heard. And today Vicki Weekes has her children Sabrina and Shane back home two days after she turned to the DAILY NATION for help. Sabrina and Shane, both teachers in St Maarten, had been trapped on the Dutch side of the island, which is shared with St Martin (French), in the wake of Hurricane Irma. The Category 5 storm flattened the island on September 6, killing a number of people and leaving about 60 per cent of the homes uninhabitable. The Sol Group of Companies saw the mother’s plea in the newspaper and airlifted the siblings out yesterday. From just after 1 p.m., Weekes and another daughter, Renee, were waiting anxiously outside the Arrivals Hall at Grantley Adams International Airport.  (MWN)

NUCLEAR STORM - The sheer devastation inflicted upon Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands (BVI) by Hurricane Irma has shaken Secretary General of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Irwin LaRoque, who today described the category five cyclone as a “nuclear hurricane”. The two British territories, along with Antigua’s sister island of Barbuda and the Franco-Dutch island of Saint Martin, were among the worst hit when Irma unleashed her fury on the Caribbean, killing close to 40 people and leaving behind hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. While the countries count the cost, LaRocque and CARICOM Chairman, the Grenadian prime minister Dr Keith Mitchell, today joined a team from the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) for a tour of the territories to assess the damage. It could be a while yet before the cost of reconstruction is determined. However, Mitchell said in the BVI alone, it could reach US$1 billion. Like LaRocque, he was struck by the carnage that Hurricane Irma caused with its pounding winds of 185 miles per hour. The Grenadian prime minister is no stranger to the damage that storms of the ferocity of Irma can cause. Almost 13 years ago to the day, on September 7, 2004, a dangerous Hurricane Ivan flattened 90 per cent of homes in Grenada, including his own, forcing Mitchell to relocate his office to a Royal Navy vessel. It was then the most powerful storm to hit the region in a decade, and it laid Grenada to waste, killing 39 people and leaving behind US$815 million in damage. Prisoners were running loose after the jail was destroyed, including those convicted for the murder of Prime Minister Maurice Bishop in 1983, although they would later voluntarily turn themselves in. Like Grenada, about 100 “very serious” prisoners escaped from a jail in the BVI in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, posing a “serious threat of the complete breakdown of law and order”, according to foreign and commonwealth minister Sir Alan Duncan. Mitchell said CARICOM was mobilizing some resources to assist the ravaged islands, and would soon hold a donors’ conference in a bid to secure further help. The British foreign secretary Boris Johnson is visiting the battered territories, and during a stopover here, on his way to Anguilla, he told the UK television network Sky News he was expecting the prime minister Theresa May to announce “tens of millions” of pounds in aid to the stricken islands. The British have so far provided 20 tonnes of aid, including 2,500 shelter kits and 2,300 solar lanterns. Five people died on the BVI during the storm and hundreds more have been left without running water or electricity.  (BT)

SHREDDED - Residents who returned to the Florida Keys archipelago yesterday found Hurricane Irma had shredded mobile homes like soda cans and coated businesses with seaweed, while the death toll rose for the second major hurricane to hit the United States this year.Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record before it arrived in the United States, killed 43 people in its rampage through the Caribbean and at least 12 in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina. More than six million homes and businesses were still without power in Florida and nearby states. Florida’s largest utility, Florida Power & Light, said western parts of the state might be without electricity until September 22. Irma destroyed about one-third of the buildings on the eastern Caribbean island of St Maarten en route to Florida, the Dutch Red Cross said yesterday. Several major airports in Florida that halted passenger operations due to Irma began limited service yesterday, including Miami International, one of the busiest US airports. Insured property losses in Florida from Irma were expected to run from US$20 billion to US$40 billion, catastrophe modelling firm AIR Worldwide estimated. Irma was downgraded to a tropical depression on Monday and was due to dissipate yesterday evening, the National Hurricane Centre said.  (MWN)

VENEZUELA UNREST SEEN AS THREAT - Small Caribbean states have been put on notice that the situation in Venezuela has become so serious that it now poses a national security threat to them. Not only will human trafficking become a significant problem, but so too will the spill-over of organised crime, including drug trafficking, from the country that was one of the largest suppliers of drugs to the United States. The alarm was sounded yesterday by Dr Anthony Gonzales, retired director of the Institute of International Relations at the University of the West Indies St Augustine Campus, Trinidad, who contended that Trinidad and Tobago and Colombia were already feeling the ill effects. He was speaking during a live streaming of a UWI Regional Perspectives On The Venezuelan Crisis Public Forum. (MWN)

PROVE IT, DONVILLE! - Chairman of the Revitalization of Bridgetown Initiative Lalu Vaswani has taken Minister of Industry and Small Business Development Donville Inniss to task for his comments that The City was nasty and that businesses should take the lead and pay to clean up the capital. Vaswani said while he agreed there were some “pockets” in Bridgetown that were in need of improvement, it was unfair to make such a blanket statement about the entire city. During a wide-ranging address at the launching ceremony of the Small Business Association’s week of activities and Solar Transport Project in National Heroes Square on Friday, Inniss raised concern about the state of Bridgetown.  (BT)

FIVE MEN CHARGED WITH MURDER OF BRITISH NATIONAL - Police are reporting a major breakthrough in their investigations into the murder of 49-year-old British businessman Steven Weare, who was reported missing last month. Lawmen have also confirmed that the body of a Caucasian man, which was discovered in a remote area at Melverton, St George on Friday, September 1, was Weare’s. The British car salesman, from Kirkham in Lancashire, was last seen alive in Burger King’s car park at University Drive, Black Rock, St Michael on August 23. The director of Fylde Motor Company, who was reportedly staying at Newcastle Plantation House in St John at the time, was no stranger to the island. As a result of his death, police have arrested and charged 35-year-old Sunil Decourcey Brome of #7, Alamanda Drive, West Terrace, St James; 30-year-old Keino Nakito Griffith of Pounders Gap, Westbury Road, St Michael; 26-year-old Christopher Darnley Michael Clarke of Oughterson, St Philip; 26-year-old Torio Akiro Watson of Block 6D, Field Road, Wildey, St Michael and 27-year-old Basil Alphonso Branch of Morris Gap, Westbury Road, St Michael. The accused men are all expected to appear in the District ‘A’ Magistrates’ Court later today. (BT)

TEENAGER 4TH PERSON CHARGED WITH KADOOMENT DAY SHOOTING - A teenager is the fourth person to be charged in connection with the shooting on Kadooment Day in which 20 year old Taried Rock was killed and 20 others injured. 17 year old Diego Rayshawn Wilson of Spencers Gap, Baxters Road, St Michael was arrested today and formally charged for 23 counts of endangering life and one count of violent disorder. Wilson is expected to appear in the District A Magistrates Court tomorrow, Wednesday, September 13th. Two other 17 year olds - Elijah Copeland and Raheem Grimes were previously charged in connection with the incident, along with 22 year old Tristan Alleyne. They are currently on remand. (MWN)

GUYANESE MAN DENIES TRESPASSING - A 25-year-old Guyanese national who arrived in the county as a child had to surrender his passport to a Bridgetown Court today after appearing on a trespassing charge. Andrew Martin Thomas, of 1st Avenue Grazettes, St Michael, is accused of venturing onto the premises of Shadai Pratt on September 11, after being forbidden to do so. He pleaded not guilty. Although not going into the facts of the case, prosecutor Station Sergeant Carson Henry revealed, after being questioned by Acting Magistrate Sandra Rawlins, that Thomas went onto the property at night and was apparently intoxicated. The Crown’s representative also disclosed that Thomas had arrived in the country on a school visa but had not regularized his status since that visa expired. His mother, who has legal status in Barbados, informed the court that Thomas had been in the country since the age of eight and had the necessary documents during that time. However, she said, circumstances beyond her control had prevented her from filing the necessary paperwork to regularize his status subsequently. However, Magistrate Rawlins informed the woman that her son was old enough to undergo the process himself. After being warned to stay away from his alleged victim, Thomas was granted $2,500 bail, which he posted with one surety. He is to return to court on September 25. (BT)

CAESAR MUST PAY DRUG FINE - A 22-year-old unemployed man who pleaded guilty to several cannabis charges has six weeks to pay the District ‘A’ Traffic Court a $2,500 fine. Acting Magistrate Sandra Rawlins imposed the amount on Christopher Anderson Caesar of Champaign Land, Martindales Road, St Michael today. The cannabis, which weighed 24 grammes and had an estimated street value of $310, was found in his home when police executed a search warrant yesterday. Caesar was charged with possession, possession with intent to supply and trafficking of the drug, as well as possession of a grinder which was used as apparatus for the misuse of the drug. After explaining to the acting magistrate his reasons for having the illicit substance, he was slapped with the fine for the trafficking charge. He will spend three months in prison if he doesn’t pay up by October 24. Caesar must also perform 240 hours of community service by January next year on the possession charge. He was reprimanded and discharged for the other offences. (BT)

WOMAN ACCUSED OF DAMAGING CAR - A 26-year-old woman who pleaded guilty to one of two charges brought against her was granted bail today. Nikita Hettie Maria Brathwaite, a resident of Yearwood Road, Black Rock, St Michael, is accused of using a vehicle without the owner’s consent or without lawful authority, sometime between September 3 and 4. She told Acting Magistrate Sandra Rawlins that she was not guilty of that offence, but admitted to damaging a car belonging to Akinola Griffith on September 1. However, prosecutor Sergeant Vernon Waithe told Rawlins that the Crown could not disclose the facts of that case at this time since the two charges were intertwined. Brathwaite returns to court on September 14 when Griffith is also expected to appear before the acting magistrate. She remains on $1,600 bail in the meantime. (BT)

INTOXICATED CLERK FINED FOR CUFFING COWORKER - Kelven Omar Bennett of Parks Road, St Joseph admitted today that he “had in a lil drinks” when he cuffed his coworker in the eye for no apparent reason. The 24-year-old stock clerk returned to the District ‘A’ Traffic court today, a day after pleading guilty to assaulting David Smith on August 26, occasioning him actual bodily harm. Smith, who is a driver at the business where the two men work, was waiting in the company vehicle when Bennett approached and struck him in the right eye. Smith drove off to avoid getting hit again. He reported the matter to police and Bennett was subsequently arrested. “I can’t recall what the noise was about,” Bennett told a baffled Acting Magistrate Sandra Rawlins yesterday. Today, however, Smith appeared in court and explained that he was sitting in the vehicle, speaking to another driver, when Bennett approached them asking “if we were talking his name, and just hit me”. He further explained to Rawlins that he had no previous grouse with Bennett and was not sure why he was assaulted. Intoxicated clerk fined for cuffing coworker. “That is the most bizarre thing I have ever come across,” Rawlins said, again asking Bennett the reasons for his action. “To tell the truth, I can’t recall. I had alcohol in my system,” he replied, adding that he had never behaved in such a manner before. Advising Bennett to “stay far away from alcohol” Rawlins ordered him to pay Smith $230 in compensation by September 26 or spend seven days in prison. Bennett was also placed on a 12-month bond to keep the peace. If he is charged and found guilty of any crime during that time, he will have to pay the court a $1,000 fine forthwith or spend three months in jail. In another case today, the acting magistrate also ordered 32-year-old Dewayne Colvin Yarde of 8E Church Village, St Philip to pay his victim Damar Taylor the cost of two tyres he damaged on the man’s vehicle. The incident occurred on August 31, after a female friend that Yarde went to pick up got into Taylor’s car instead. Yesterday he told the acting magistrate that he “just let out the air” of the tyres, but Taylor said today the tyres had been punctured and slashed and could not be repaired. Yarde has to pay $685.20 in two weeks or he will spend two months in prison. (BT)

DOUGHLIN READY TO SHOW CLASS - It’s the chance of a lifetime, and Shakira Doughlin is making the most of it. The national bikini fitness queen is competing tomorrow night with the creme de la creme at the 2017 Amateur Olympia at the Orleans Hotel and Casino showroom in Las Vegas. “This year’s Olympia has an amateur stage for the first time in Vegas and I want to be a part of that history. The top girls will be there and I am happy to be competing against them. “Your federation can enter you into any of these elite amateur contests once you are in good standing. I would also like to thank the Barbados Amateur Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation for their support. I will represent my country with pride,” said Doughlin, who left here on Monday. (MWN)

KING FIT AND READY FOR CUP - Darian King says he has overcome the shoulder injury that dogged him before the US Open, and will be fit and sharp for this weekend’s top-of-the-table Americas Davis Cup Group 2 showdown with Venezuela at the National Tennis Centre in Wildey. King, far and away the best tennis player in the country, has acknowledged that somehow he serves better in the Davis Cup than he does on tour. “A lot of people didn’t know that prior to the US Open, I had problems with my shoulder. I wasn’t even sure at one stage if I would have played in the US Open – my shoulder was that bad. thanks must go to Jacqui King and Dr Thorne for assisting me. “For Davis Cup, I serve very well, but on tour I don’t know what happens, I am not sure why. It is something that I really work on a lot in my off time, especially after practice that I would hit a basket of serves, hitting targets. I guess more repetition of that would improve my serve,” he said.  (MWN)

TOURNEY OPENS WITH BANG - The opening game of the Barbados Workers’ Union’s 38th Annual Netball Tournament was a thriller that was decided by one goal at the Netball Stadium on Sunday evening. Competing in the Ulric Sealy Zone, Warriors edged out BDF Solja Girlz 18-17. Warriors led by one goal throughout the first and second quarters before the Solja Girlz locked scores by the end of the third quarter. In the dying stages of the final quarter,  Warriors nipped ahead and held on. Goal attack Keianna James led the Warriors to victory, netting nine of her 16 attempts. She was assisted by Tiana Catlyn, who later took her bib to score seven of ten attempts, and goal shooter Mariah Haynes, who shot two of six. (MWN)

DEACONS, CHARGERS IN TITLE BATTLE - The two most successful local volleyball teams Deacons and defending champions Chargers will battle for the Goddard Enterprises Limited senior men’s volleyball knockout crown on Sunday. Another sequel to the great rivalry between those two was scripted with contrasting victories in the semi-finals, which were played at Oldbury, St Philip on Monday night.  Deacons squeezed out a four sets victory against Foundation United 22-25, 25-20, 25-20, 25-23, while Chargers blew past Cawmere 25-15, 25-23, 25-22. Deacons seemed in danger against the lesser rated Foundation United although their young guns of Ahkeem Mayers, Akeel Oxley, Kyle Browne and Akeil Williams had piloted them to an early advantage of 18-14 while holding off Foundation’s Darien Seale, Paul Doughty, Shamar Bishop and Chad Callender.   (MWN)

CHANGES FOR 2018 BFA SEASON - The Barbados Football Association’s 2018 Premier League season kicks off January 7 with an interesting new format. Instead of the traditional ten teams competing in a round-robin format to decide a winner, the new format for 2018 will now see 12 premier league teams split into two respective zones. Zone one appears to be very competitive on paper with four former champion teams in the line-up, including reigning kings Weymouth Wales, Paradise, Notre Dame and Brittons Hill along with Silver Sands and Empire. Meanwhile, former three-time champions, Barbados Defence Force Sports Programme, University of the West Indies Blackbirds, Ellerton, Rendezvous, Waterford Compton and Porey Spring will take on each other in zone two. (BT)

That’s all for today folks there are 110 days left in the year Shalom! #thechasefiles #dailynewscaps Follow us on Twitter, Facebook & Instagram for your daily news. #bajannewscaps #newscapsbystephaniefchase