 St. Lucia was impacted by a Category 1 hurricane on Friday, July 2, 2021. Assessment of the impact to roads, infrastructure, lives and livelihoods continue as we work on bringing the country back to normalcy. Unfortunately, there was report of one fatality in the Forsythiax-Suffer area. Let me pause for a minute to express my condolences to the family of Mr. Peter Victor. We at NIMO believe that one life lost is one too many, because you can replace your property but not a life. NIMO received reports of partial and total damage to homes throughout the island. On Saturday, July 3, the Prime Minister and official from Infrastructure and Myself did an aerial reconnaissance to have a view of the damage and as was mentioned previously, the damage to the banana fields was quite visible. Indeed, the agriculture sector suffered extensive damages. Please be reminded that we are still in the midst of an active Atlantic hurricane season and based on the destructive nature of these tropical activities, you are advised to continue with the hurricane preparedness if you have not done so. Your preparedness plan should include, for example, a family plan, a business plan, assessment around your home and property to identify the hazards. As you see the progress of ELSA after impacting several islands in the Winwood Island and the entire Caribbean chain with rainfall and gusty winds, I remind you of the real and present threat and danger these activities can have on our society from economic to social and loss of lives and livelihoods. As you see the progress of ELSA after impacting several islands in the Winwood and the entire Caribbean chain with rainfall and gusty winds, I remind you of the present and real threat and danger these activities can have on our society from an economic to social and loss of lives and livelihoods. We have about 15 more storms remaining and it takes only one to cause catastrophic effect on any one country. With the rise in climate change, we have seen the rapid intensification of hurricanes, for example, tropical storm ELSA changing rapidly into a hurricane within a short space of time. This behavior could have only been made possible due to climate change and the effects of climate change on our small island development states and this could only be mitigated through preparedness. Preparedness also builds on the resilience of people and as a nation it is our desire to become resilient. In closing, I would like to express my solidarity with the other SIDMA member states and other countries that were impacted by Hurricane ELSA. Thank you.