ISLANDERS are being urged not to treat storm-hit areas as a “zoo” after reports of “disaster tourists” photographing damage in the hardest-hit parish.
Marcus Troy, the Constable of St Clement, warned that it was also not safe to do so, as debris could still fall in the gale-force winds that have followed the widespread destruction caused by Storm Ciarán.
Reports emerged this week that Islanders had been visiting the area where a tornado made landfall in the early hours of on Thursday 2 November, leaving a path of severe damage northwards from the St Clement’s coast road to Flicquet.
Experts from the UK-based Tornado and Storm Research Organisation later confirmed that it was likely to have been the strongest twister in the British Isles for 70 years.
Mr Troy explained that he had been made aware of the reports of “disaster tourists” in Princess Place, an estate where many residents have been displaced by the storm.
He said: “I have been told that there are people wandering through the estate, taking photos and gawking at the situation.
“There are two reasons that is not helpful. First, it’s not a zoo, and these people’s lives have been badly affected.
“Secondly, it is still not safe around there. We have had a couple of gales since Storm Ciarán, and there is still potentially debris and glass and branches falling, together with sand as well.”
St Clement set up a fund last week to assist parishioners in need in the aftermath of Storm Ciarán.
Mr Troy continued: “We have had some fantastic donations, small and large, and the fund is still ongoing. We have a lot of work to do helping people with accommodation costs, including those in the Hotel Ambassadeur who might not have the right insurance.
“We have also been helping with furniture, relocation costs, storage costs, food vouchers, clothes and school uniforms, toiletries. There are collections going on at the parish hall, where we have an entire room full of toys and things for families that lost have everything.
“There are some private individuals who perhaps didn’t take out the relevant insurance if they were short of money and those are the priority cases for us.”
Mr Troy further said that the process of rebuilding the padel tennis courts was under way (see separate story on the phased reopening in Sport, page 64). These were completely devastated in the storm after opening only a few months before with support from the Covid-19 Emergency Fund.
He said: “I’ve had some conversations with the director, and the site is safe, so while it looks like things can blow around, the main core is embedded in concrete and there won’t be any debris flying around.
“They have engineers who have looked at the site, and they have estimated that the rebuild will be a six-month project for them. But the club is fully covered by insurance.”
He also added that temporary courts could be set up for the club in the parish hall.
Overall, Mr Troy urged patience, saying: “All our agencies are doing as much as possible around the clock to put things back to the way that they were, but it’s not going to happen in the next week or two.”
