Good day and God’s blessings to all the people of the Virgin Islands.

As you would have already heard from His Excellency the Acting Governor Mr. David Archer, the Territory is now under a Tropical Storm Warning, which means that we expect Tropical Storm Karen will bring some tropical storm conditions to our shores within the next 36 hours.

Forecasters expect that Karen may degenerate somewhat, but also that whether or not this system remains an organised storm, we would still see squally, tropical storm-like conditions such as gusty winds, isolated areas of heavy rain and possible storm surge as the system passes over us tomorrow.

This means that we must continue to be like Noah, and do the work to build our ark so we can Be Ready for Karen and whatever other storms might come our way for the remainder of this Atlantic Hurricane Season.

Although we treat each storm as the separate potential impact that it is, still I would urge you to take many of the same preparatory measures within your homes and businesses that you would be accustomed to taking by this point in the season. We would have watched with much sadness the images of impact from our Caribbean neighours in St Vincent and the Grenadines and Tobago.

For some of us, this might mean having a final look around our property to make sure that everything is in order. For others, it might mean reaching out to vulnerable persons or those who we know live in flood-prone areas to see what assistance we can offer.

You know by now to keep monitoring the updates that would come from government, and that we will soon be announcing the status of the public service for tomorrow.

I want to express my appreciation to those of you in the private sector that are already formulating plans to ensure that your business, and most particularly your staff, stay safe during the oncoming system. Having a plan which allows you to restart your business operations in the shortest possible time after impact is a key element of recovery planning.  If you don’t have such a plan, now is the time to put one in place.

As a people, I know Virgin Islanders to be resourceful and resilient, two traits we have inherited from our forebearers and which have allowed us to come this far. This season has put both of these qualities to quite a test, and we are not done yet. Still, I have faith that with the strength of our Creator, we will continue to Be Ready.

May God continue to bless and protect the people of the Virgin Islands.

Thank you.