Nations rush to help devastated islands
‘This is the real deal,’ weather officer warns as destructive storm approaches U.S. coast
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti — French, British and Dutch military authorities rushed aid to a devastated string of Caribbean islands Thursday after Hurricane Irma left at least 10 people dead and thousands homeless as it spun toward Florida for what could be a catastrophic blow this weekend.
Warships and planes were dispatched with food, water and troops after the fearsome Category 5 storm smashed homes, schools and roads, laying waste to some of the world’s most beautiful and exclusive tourist destinations.
Hundreds of kilometres to the west, Florida braced for the onslaught, with forecasters warning Irma could slam headlong into the Miami metropolitan area of 6 million people, punish the entire length of the state’s Atlantic coast and move into Georgia and South Carolina. More than a half-million people in Miami-Dade County were ordered to leave as Irma closed in with winds of 281 km/h.
“Take it seriously,” said Maj. Jeremy DeHart, a U.S. Air Force Reserve weather officer who flew through the eye of Irma at 10,000 feet. “Because this is the real deal.”
By Thursday afternoon, the hurricane was north of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, where authorities reported some flooding and building damage but no deaths.
About a million people were without power in Puerto Rico after Irma side-swiped the island overnight, but there were no immediate reports of large-scale casualties.
The first islands hit by the storm were scenes of terrible destruction.
French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe said four people were confirmed dead and about 50 injured on the French side of St. Martin, an island split between Dutch and French control. The toll could rise because rescue teams had yet to get a complete look at the damage.
At least three people were killed in the U.S. Virgin Islands, officials said, describing the damage as catastrophic and saying crews were struggling to reopen roads.
Three more deaths were reported on the British island of Anguilla, independent Barbuda and the Dutch side of St. Martin.
Irma also slammed the French island of St. Barts, tearing off roofs and knocking out electricity.
French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said 100,000 food rations were sent to St. Barts and St. Martin, the equivalent of four days of supplies.
“It’s a tragedy. We’ll need to rebuild both islands,” he said. “Most of the schools have been destroyed.”
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said the storm “caused wide-scale destruction of infrastructure, houses and businesses.”
Far out in the Atlantic, Hurricane Jose grew into a Category 2 storm, threatening some of the same islands ravaged by Irma.
Meanwhile, Irma, the most potent Atlantic Ocean hurricane ever recorded, appeared increasingly likely to rip into heavily populated South Florida early Sunday after threatening parts of the Turks and Caicos and the Bahamas on Thursday night and Friday and sweeping along Cuba’s northern coast on Saturday. People in Florida rushed to board up homes, take boats out of the water and gas up cars.
“It is wider than our entire state and could cause major and life-threatening impacts from coast to coast,” Gov. Rick Scott said.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s office said he would go to the islands as soon as the weather permits it.
Two Dutch navy ships were in St. Martin with vital supplies. And two Dutch military aircraft were being sent the island of Curacao and on to St. Martin to deliver food and water intended to last the population of 40,000 five days.
Britain was sending hundreds of troops and the Royal Navy flagship HMS Ocean to Anguilla, Montserrat and the British Virgin Islands.
In Anguilla, officials reported extensive damage to the airport, hospitals, shelters and schools and said 90 per cent of roads were impassable.
On Barbuda, nearly every building was damaged when the hurricane’s core crossed almost directly over the island early Wednesday.