ROSEAU, Dominica (CMC) — Dominica Tuesday remembered the passage of the catastrophic Category 5 Hurricane Maria nine years ago, with Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit saying that 34 nationals are still reported as being missing in addition to the 31 killed by the storm.

“Nine years ago on the night of September 18, 2017, Dominica went through hell,” Skerrit told a sitting of the Dominica Parliament, adding that the storm which made a direct hit on the Caribbean island with winds in excess of 160 miles per hour “battered us without mercy.

“She did not spare the rich or the poor, the young or the old, the farmer in the hills or the fisherman on the coast. Mr Speaker, this House must never forget what that night did to our citizens,” he said, noting that he has met with families “who never got to bury their loved ones.

“That pain remains,” Skerrit said, adding that the assessments showed 90 per cent of all houses were damaged, over 80 per cent of the population left homeless overnight.

“…imagine what that means. A mother in Goodwill with three children sitting in the rain because her roof is gone. An elderly man in Grand Bay who built his home with his own hands over 30 years, watched it lift and disappear. For months, our citizens lived under tarpaulins in community centres, five families to one home.”

Skerrit said that the storm also caused severe damage resulting in the World Bank and the United Nations assessing the total damage and loss at 226 per cent of the island’s gross domestic product (GDP).

“In one night, more than two years of everything we produced as a country was wiped out. The Dominica China Friendship Hospital flooded. Health centres lost their roofs. Doctors operated by flashlight, 95 per cent of our schools were damaged, 10,000 children had no classroom to go to for months.

“There was no light, no water, no phone,” he said, adding that he has met citizens who still cannot sleep when it rains hard.

Skerrit said that while many people said that the island would never ever recover because “we were too poor, too small, too broken” what they did not take into consideration the strength of the Dominican people.

“From day one, this government said we would not simply build back, we would build back better. We set ourselves an ambitious goal to build Dominica into the world’s first climate-resilient nation. Nine years later, we have remained steadfast in that commitment.

“We have rebuilt stronger, invested differently, and placed resilience at the heart of our national development. We have not yet completed that journey. But the progress we have made is real, visible, and transforming lives.”

He said that the reconstruction effort is ongoing and that today “Dominica is producing again.

“Our markets are full again with our own products. We speak, Mr Speaker, high electricity prices hurt every family, that is why our geothermal plant in the Roseau Valley is so important to us in Dominica.”

He said in the past few months, Dominica has witnessed the impact of geothermal with cheaper, cleaner energy on the national grid.

“That means lower bills for single mothers, for the small shopkeeper, and for the hotel sector. The geothermal has also helped to shield Dominicans from higher electricity rates as a result of the high cost of energy across the world.

“We are building our international airport,” he said, recalling that when the hurricane struck nine years ago planes could not land and “we were cut off.

“Our citizens could not be evacuated. Our international airport will ensure that that never happens again and every day on that site, over 300 Dominicans are working,” Skerrit said, telling legislators that the “the journey is not over.

“Building a truly climate-resilient nation is not a destination we reach overnight. It is a continuing national undertaking. There are still families waiting for their homes. There are still river walls to build, communities to strengthen, infrastructure to protect, and farmers who need greater support.

“We know that, and we remain committed to doing the work. But nine years after Maria, we can also look back and see how far we have come. From tarpaulins to concrete roofs, from darkness to geothermal light, from isolation to international airport, from food aid to feeding ourselves again.

“We are not finished, but we are stronger, better prepared, and more determined than ever,” Skerrit added.