Statement

Office of the Governor
Department of Disaster Management
Release Date:
Sunday, 23 August 2015 - 4:00pm

Message on Tropical Storm Danny 
By the 
Acting Governor, Mrs. V. Inez Archibald, CBE
August 23, 2015

Residents of The Virgin Islands, I trust that you have been following the updates on Danny and like I am, you are thankful that the system has been now been downgraded to a tropical storm.

Although Danny has weakened significantly, it is still expected to affect the Territory and our disaster preparedness systems remain on alert.
On its current projected path, Danny is expected to past just south of the BVI late Monday night into Tuesday morning and only minor impacts from wind and rain are expected.

Given the dissipation of the system and after consultation with disaster management officials, I am confident that it is safe to proceed with normal business operations. Therefore, Government offices will open for business as usual on Monday, August 24th and public officers are expected to report for regular duty.

We are continuing to monitor the system and will provide regular updates until Danny is no longer a threat to the Territory.

I know many of you heeded the calls made for preparedness and I applaud your commitment to safeguarding yourselves, your families and your properties. Do not for a moment think it was wasted effort. Be guided by the old adage which says an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure.

Preparedness is key to improving resilience and by preparing, we are better able to face the risks that come our way. Thankfully, we will be spared the type of impact initially anticipated but let the value of this be the readiness of our disaster management system and your responsiveness to the need to prepare.

Let us pray for the continuing weakening of Danny and an accompanying reduction in the threat it poses to us and to neighbouring islands.
Thank you.