By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

and NATARIO McKENZIE

Tribune Staff Reporter

nmckenzie@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian insurance companies were yesterday said to be concerned about a potential “flood of claims” as a result of Tuesday night’s heavy rains, as New Providence yesterday attempted to dry out and get back to business.

Dionisio D’Aguilar, who chairs Insurance Company of the Bahamas (ICB), the property and casualty underwriter that J. S. Johnson places business through, told Tribune Business:

“I’m sure there’ll be a flood of claims.

“I know the insurance companies are very worried about that right now. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.”

No top Bahamian insurance executives returned Tribune Business’s calls seeking comment before press time last night, but many businesses spent early Wednesday mopping up and drying out, while consumer access to a number of firms was impeded by flood waters.

Edison Sumner, the Bahamas Chamber of Commerce and Employers Confederation’s (BCCEC) chief executive, said the private sector organisation was itself cleaning up after the heavy rains.

While no assessment of the impact on the private sector had yet been completed, Mr Sumner said: “I think it is safe to say those who were in the direct belt of the storm had some issues opening their stores due to water damage.

“It highlights the importance of persons looking to make sure they have adequate insurance in place to protect their business in the future - to take whatever precautions they can to mitigate against any loss or damage that might result from these weather systems.

“It’s incumbent upon business owners to do whatever they can to protect their assets. The prudent businessman always takes these measures to ensure they suffer no loss to their business.”

Mr Sumner said he suspected many businesses would have been caught unprepared by the severity of Tuesday night’s storms, adding that it was up to “the experts” to determine if more could be done to let the water drain away more rapidly.

Businesses in eastern New Providence fared the worst from the torrential downpour.

Greg Burrows, operator of the Esso on the Run service station at South Beach, told Tribune Business that he decided to shut down his pumps for safety reasons after heavy rain flooded the property.

“We decided to shut down the pumps for safety reasons. We didn’t want to have our pump attendants out there walking in water. We will keep the pumps shut down until the water subsides. It looks like the water may be starting to subside now,” Mr Burrows told Tribune Business.

Numerous photos circulated on the internet following Tuesday’s downpour of flooding issues affecting parts of Paradise Island, namely the tunnel leading to the Royal Towers. However, attempts to secure comment from Kerzner International spokesman, Ed Fields, were unsuccessful up to press time.

Meanwhile, Mr D’Aguilar said his laundromats were not significantly impacted by the storm, with all but one employee able to show up for work despite the flooding.

Shonalee Johnson, the Nassau Airport Development Company’s manager of communications, confirmed that operations at the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA) were not impacted by the weather.

“It didn’t rain in this area a whole lot. We didn’t have any impact due to the weather. All our flights were on schedule except for individual operating issues,” she said.