ROSEAU, Dominica--The Dominica government is reported to have planned a thanksgiving concert in the Windsor Park Stadium at Roseau, to commemorate the second anniversary of the passage of Category 5 Hurricane Maria. The occasion will take place on September 19, at 4:00pm.
Prime Minister Dr. Roosevelt Skerrit issued a press release and recalled the ravages caused by Hurricane Maria which struck the “Nature Island” in September 2017.
“All of us who lived through this experience know it wasn’t easy. We were left in a daze, and the seriousness of our circumstances in the wake of the passage of Hurricane Maria will forever be etched in our memories. She cut us off from our neighbours, took the lives of loved ones, decimated our valleys, scraped our hills and mountains naked, and left us bare and exposed,” he said. “Each of us who survived this life-changing experience has a story … Despite everything, we emerged from this horrifying experience together, and through God’s mercy and guidance, we are alive to see each other’s faces today.”
Skerrit added that the event would be sober but with thanksgiving in words, song and dance. “It will be a watershed day in the lives of Dominicans, as together we shall reflect on the pain and destruction inflicted by Maria on our country, and take a critical look at the results of two years of sure and steady progress,” the prime minister asserted.
Skerrit also urged the people of Dominica to come together and thank the Lord for delivering them safe from the darkest moment, and to continue to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth as the government focuses on the task of rebuilding Dominica.
According to information, the event will feature local, regional and international artistes such as Ophelia Marie, Michele Henderson, Colton T, Marie-Pascale Affana, Edwin Yearwood, Sarah Ikumu, Kurt Carr and Reverend Shirley Caesar; and adult and children choirs, dancers, drummers, singers and musicians will entertain the audience.
Hurricane Maria made landfall on the southwest coast of Dominica at 9:35pm on September 18, 2017, as a Category 5 hurricane, with 160 mile-per-hour (mph) wind speed and higher gusts. The hurricane force resulted in intense storm surges, torrential downpour, overflowing raging rivers and extremely high winds across the island that left 31 people dead and 37 missing. Some 65,000 people, around 80 per cent of the population, were directly affected and more than 90 per cent of roofs were damaged or destroyed while power and water supplies were disrupted and entire crops destroyed. ~ WIC News ~
