Business lobby groups are now assessing the impact of Hurricane Beryl which skirted the island on Wednesday but left behind a trail of devastation and service disruptions.

Homes and businesses which were impacted by the powerful category 4 storm on Thursday began to estimate possible damage and likely fallouts, if any.

The Jamaica Bankers Association (JBA), the umbrella group for commercial banks, in a notice Thursday said most of the country’s financial institutions were working to restore full banking services to the public.

“Our member institutions will continue to share updates with customers on service availability over the next 24 hours. Please check your bank’s social media pages, websites, and the traditional media services for the latest updates,” the notice stated.

Similarly, president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) Metry Seaga told the Jamaica Observer that the more-than- 350 members of his group are now busy carrying out their respective assessments to see how best they can resume normal operations.

“We are grateful that the storm did not come as it was expected to come. Most businesses were prepared and factories and essential services seem to be reopening between today (Thursday) and Friday, which should see the country getting back on track. I’ve done a drive-out and based on what I’ve seen, Kingston and St Andrew seem to be reasonably in good shape. We are still gathering information from our members in other parishes, such as Clarendon, Portland, and others, but we are hoping that by today we can have the majority of businesses up and running, especially as the bus services resume so that everybody can be back at work,” he said.

Echoing similar sentiments, president of the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA) Sydney Thwaites said preliminary assessment showed immediate damage, but the loss of power was the most pressing challenge for manufacturers and exporters.

“Most of the manufacturers that I was able to speak to up to time of this interview made it through with minimal amount of damage. I think getting power from the Jamaica Public Service (JPS) back up right now is probably the sector’s most urgent need. We’re also hoping to get the service at the port back up so we can resume our logistics and trade activities. Regarding our employees, we are also hoping that the return of transport services by the respective entities and the remediation of other personal challenges will see more of them being able to come back to work as soon as possible,” Thwaites said. The JMEA has about 500 members.

Early reports from JPS on Thursday indicated that some 60 per cent of its customers was left without power in the aftermath of the hurricane.

Director of corporate communications at JPS Winsome Callum in a follow-up report told the BusinessWeek that the company has been conducting damage assessment of its network across the island and has been restoring electricity to the majority of Jamaicans where it can safely do so.

“It’s the damage assessment that will give us a precise understanding of what’s happening on the ground and with the different line segments. These will also help to provide a better timeline of when we will be able to restore power, as this may take some time depending on the extent of the damage. As we go along we will continue to restore electricity for our customers with the intention to have as much of them back with power as soon as we are able to,” she said.

Citing the need to have power returned to areas offering essential services right across the country, she said these are being treated as a matter of priority.

“We have started restorations in the Corporate Area, but in terms of how we prioritise we are now trying to get service back to those essential services right across the island first, and not just those in the Corporate Area. As such we are focused on getting power back to the hospitals, airports, and telecoms services. Second to these, the business districts and commercial areas are also among the priority grouping as we understand how important it also is to keep the wheels of business turning and for these reasons we are now working to get power back to them as quickly as we can, though I’m unfortunately unable at this time to provide details of the exact timeline,” Callum explained.

Within the hospitality sector, steps are also now being taken to determine the impact of the hurricane on hotels and other tourism-related businesses.

While the BusinessWeek was unable to get a full picture of the situation from president of the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association (JHTA) Robin Russell whom we were told was doing an assessment, area chairman for the parishes of St Ann, St Mary, and Portland Vana Taylor said it was the loss of electric power which stood out.

“The major challenge for us on this side is to get back electricity. Most of the major or much larger hotels do have backup power systems, but they have been running for some time on it and I think may need additional connection from the grid soon,” she stated.