So far, there has been 61 confirmed deaths caused by Hurricane Irma, with 38 in the Caribbean and 23 in the United States as of Wednesday, according to the Associated Press.
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“We need construction workers, electricians, plumbers, health care personnel, and more security”, Flowers said. And the days before relief teams arrived, locals reported looting and violence on social media.
The small, 68-square-mile island of Barbuda, above, was hit especially hard by the Category 5 hurricane. Critical communications, travel and health care infrastructure has been destroyed or damaged badly.
St. John’s major hospital lost portions of its roof, and most of its recovery rooms are being used as shelters for tired, homeless nurses. In 2016, the Caribbean set a record for the most visitors ever with 29 million tourist arrivals, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization.
He’s now using his company to get help to the affected areas.
Gabriel Torres is an expert for Moody’s Investors Service who has studied the economic effects of storms in the Caribbean area.
She told the Press Association: “I honestly thought he was dead”. When they went to a port that is normally used for cruise ships, from where private charter boats were leaving for the US VI, officials told them not to board boats as they would not be allowed to land on the neighboring US territory unless they were American citizens. “That can take years to recover”.
Dutch authorities denied rumours on Saturday that dozens of prisoners had escaped after a prison collapsed on the Dutch side of Saint Martin – known as Sint Maarten.
Prime Minister of Antigua and Barbuda Gaston Browne said Barbuda was “barely inhabitable” and “literally a rubble.”
Mapp and other officials have denied reports of violence and theft in the immediate aftermath of the storm and said there have been no major crimes.
On Anguilla, a 90-square kilometer island that is among several British overseas territories in the Caribbean, 90% of all government buildings were severely affected and 80-90% of the island’s schools have been damaged, the UNOCHA said.
“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the face”, Mayor Bob Buckhorn of Tampa said at a Sunday news conference, paraphrasing the boxer Mike Tyson.
The number of deaths blamed on Irma in Florida climbed to 12, in addition to four in SC and two in Georgia.
Meanwhile, the State Department continues to coordinate evacuation efforts for USA citizens who remain on St. Martin – an island half by the Dutch and half by the French – administered through social media, radio and in reaching out to hotels and Airbnb locations, spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement. Military helicopters buzz overhead and a Navy aircraft carrier is anchored off the coast, as the National Guard patrols the streets. They have also been working to clear roads and airport runways to ease the delivery of lifesaving supplies.
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“You could see there was not much left”, Larry Brown, a part-time resident, said as he waited in Puerto Rico for a flight back to his home in southwestern Florida to see what damage awaited him there.
