Windreach Recreational Village yesterday said it is still in operation after surviving a "severe hit" and going without power due to this week's rainstorm.

The powerful rainstorm that hit the island Tuesday night left many homes without power, caused flooding and left one woman homeless.

In Hamilton, the flood waters were so high that parked auxiliary cycles floated into the streets. Flooding from the torrential rain caused a section of South Road near Tee Street and Devonshire Bay to be closed off and Works and Engineering staff were called out to remediate the situation.

Up at Windreach, executive director Lance Furbert explained they had a "severe hit" with all the lightning causing the telephone, security and pumping system, the elevator, phone and internet lines to all be out.

The staff were forced to resort to watering the animals by buckets after the pumping system went out.

Mr. Furbert said: "It's a bit of a tough time for us but I have to say we are very grateful to the staff and volunteers who have come in to water the animals and help out. We just want to let the public know we are still operating even though we are a bit crippled here. With the phone and computers gone." we have no e-mail or communication."

Asked when they are expecting to have everything up and running, Mr. Furbert said they are assessing all the problems and it's difficult to say when they will be solved. –He explained the lightning did very serious damage to many systems on the property and they are waiting for technicians to see what can be done.

Mr. Furbert said the main two problems for them have been communicating with the public and the pumping system.

"With the number of horses, goats and sheep, we need to be able to constantly have water. We had a plumber come up yesterday and he was able to fix the problem. He's done a great job."

He added the plumbing is working for the most part, enough to be able to water the animals, but is not fixed completely.

The executive director also said BELCO came up on Wednesday evening and turned the electricity back on.

Because of the communication problems, Mr. Furbert said they haven't been able to release information on the Adaptive Sports Expo that was held from April 25 to 27. He said the event was very successful and would like the public to be informed.

Even though Windreach is still up and running, Mr. Furbert said if anyone is interested in volunteering until the situation is completely fixed, they are welcomed.

"It's such a severe hit that I think it will take a few days to assess where we go from here."