MBP recovering from effects of Yasi

By JASON GIMA WURI
SEVERAL islands and villages in Milne Bay are recovering from minor damages and incidents following strong winds around 40 knots as a result of Cyclone Yasi that devastated North Queensland last week.
Milne Bay disaster and emergency centre coordinator Eric Balaria confirmed these reports over the weekend while welcoming zero casualties across the province.
The side effects of Cyclone Yasi were experienced in Milne Bay and Northern with strong winds, rain and thunderstorms.
“There have been no major incidents reported from the outer islands except for several roof tops of houses and a classroom that were blown off by the strong winds.
“But the communities have all gathered and are giving a hand to fix the problems.
“All boat and dinghy owners had been warned in advance when I went live on the radio to announce the warning last week, so there were no major incidents except for a boat that drifted away when fuel ran out at East Cape.
“But we arrived on time to refuel it and bring it safely to shore,” Balaria said.
He said in Alotau, fallen tree branches caused a temporary black out last Wednesday but PNG Power electricians were out on time to fix the problem and restore power.
Other reports confirmed that some gardens on Misima and Rossel islands had been destroyed by the winds, however, no casualties were reported .
“We are still awaiting reports to come in from the rest of the districts but the disaster office will continue to monitor movements of the people and the warnings by the National Weather Service in the coming days,” Balaria said.