European leaders visit islands hit by Irma
POINTE-A-PITRE, GUADELOUPE: France’s president, Britain’s foreign secretary and the Dutch king were visiting Caribbean territories on Tuesday that have been hammered by Hurricane Irma.
They are trying to quell accusations by residents that European governments were slow to prepare, slow to react and sometimes even racist in their responses to the devastation.
French President Emmanuel Macron’s plane brought water, food and tonnes of medicines and emergency equipment. His first stop was Guadeloupe, an overseas department of France, where he landed on Tuesday morning.
Macron was eventually heading to the French-Dutch island of St. Martin, where 10 people were killed on the French side and four on the Dutch, to meet with residents. He will finish off his trip on the nearby island of St. Barts.
The president is also being accompanied by doctors and experts who will be in charge of evaluating the damage. About 1,500 French troops, police and emergency workers are already on the ground to help islanders, and 500 others were expected to arrive in the coming days, according to French authorities.
But residents on the island have spoken of hunger, homelessness, a lack of water and a feeling of abandonment after the hurricane pummeled the region on Wednesday. Some felt the French government spend more efforts rescuing white tourists than black or mixed-race island- ers. Irma left entire islands and tens of thousands of people in the Caribbean without water or electricity and reduced many homes to splinters.
The French, British and Dutch governments sent warships, planes and security forces to keep order and deliver aid but some of that aid was slowed down further by Hurricane Jose, which passed north of the region.