Bridgetown (Barbados), India's T20 World Cup-winning cricket team could fly home on Tuesday night after Barbados Prime Minister Mia Mottley said she expects the airport to become operational in the " next six to 12 hours," ending the closure forced by a Category 4 hurricane.
The Rohit Sharma-led team, his support staff, some BCCI officials and the players' families have been stranded here for the last two days due to Hurricane Beryl. The team won the title on Saturday after defeating South Africa by seven runs in the final.
"We hope, and we are working towards that, later today. I don't want to talk about it beforehand, but I have literally been in contact with the airport staff and they are doing their final checks now and we want to resume normal operations as a matter of urgency," said Mottley, who has been overseeing relief operations on the ground.
"There are a number of people who were due to leave late last night or today or tomorrow morning. And we want to make sure that we can facilitate those people, so I would anticipate that within the next six to 12 hours the airport will be open," he said she.
Life-threatening winds and storms hit Barbados and nearby islands on Monday. The country, with a population of nearly three lakh, has been under lockdown since Sunday night.
"(We have) been working to ensure that everyone is safe in Barbados, the Barbadians and all the visitors, of course, who came for the cricket World Cup. "We were very fortunate that the storm did not make landfall.
"The hurricane was 80 miles south of us, which limited the level of damage to the coast. But as you can see, coastal infrastructure and assets have been severely damaged," Mottley said.
"It could have been a lot worse, but now is the time to do the recovery and the cleanup."
The window to get out of Bridgetown is tight, as Mottley revealed that "we have another hurricane on Wednesday."
He hoped the Indians, who have stayed at their hotel since winning the trophy, would be in good spirits despite the lockdown, having ended an 11-year title drought.
"I'm sure that despite the hurricane, they would have been in very, very, very good spirits and spirit to win the way they won on Saturday. I think they will be floating in the air for a while," he joked.
The Rohit Sharma-led team, his support staff, some BCCI officials and the players' families have been stranded here for the last two days due to Hurricane Beryl. The team won the title on Saturday after defeating South Africa by seven runs in the final.
"We hope, and we are working towards that, later today. I don't want to talk about it beforehand, but I have literally been in contact with the airport staff and they are doing their final checks now and we want to resume normal operations as a matter of urgency," said Mottley, who has been overseeing relief operations on the ground.
"There are a number of people who were due to leave late last night or today or tomorrow morning. And we want to make sure that we can facilitate those people, so I would anticipate that within the next six to 12 hours the airport will be open," he said she.
Life-threatening winds and storms hit Barbados and nearby islands on Monday. The country, with a population of nearly three lakh, has been under lockdown since Sunday night.
"(We have) been working to ensure that everyone is safe in Barbados, the Barbadians and all the visitors, of course, who came for the cricket World Cup. "We were very fortunate that the storm did not make landfall.
"The hurricane was 80 miles south of us, which limited the level of damage to the coast. But as you can see, coastal infrastructure and assets have been severely damaged," Mottley said.
"It could have been a lot worse, but now is the time to do the recovery and the cleanup."
The window to get out of Bridgetown is tight, as Mottley revealed that "we have another hurricane on Wednesday."
He hoped the Indians, who have stayed at their hotel since winning the trophy, would be in good spirits despite the lockdown, having ended an 11-year title drought.
"I'm sure that despite the hurricane, they would have been in very, very, very good spirits and spirit to win the way they won on Saturday. I think they will be floating in the air for a while," he joked.
