Duncan and troops help Irma victims
NEW YORK: Authorities rushed food, water, medicine and temporary shelter to the US Virgin Islands on Monday after Hurricane Irma ripped through the islands, as former NBA star Tim Duncan led a fundraising campaign.
The US military, relief agencies and businesses brought in supplies and evacuated people from St John and St Thomas, two of the three islands that make up the US territory of 110,000.
The hurricane caused an estimated US$2.5 billion in damage, killing at least four and leaving hundreds homeless.
“They lose housing, electricity, basic goods that we take for granted here,” Duncan said in a phone interview on Monday. “There are a lot of people in need.”
Irma caused about $13 billion i n destruction across the Caribbean before it hit the US, according to an estimate from the Germany-based Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology, a damage assessor, which would make it the most expensive storm in the region’s history.
Irma was a category 5 hurricane when it hit the Virgin islands, then slowed before it made landfall in Florida.
Duncan, who was raised on the island of St Croix, donated $250,000 as part of a relief campaign that had raised more than $1.2 million as of Monday morning.
The former San Antonio Spurs player said he will use the funds to buy basics such as food and backup generators.
He said he plans to travel to the islands this week, and will continue fundraising when the immediate emergency is over to help finance the rebuilding effort.
In China, Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant announced plans yesterday for China’s first NBA basketball school, a development the 18-time All-Star says will improve the game in the country.
The NBA Basketball School-Mission Hills Haikou will be open to male and female players from junior up to professional level after its completion in 2019 and could help unearth the next Chinese basketball star.
Bryant said the new facility — construction begins later this year — will be a boon to the Chinese game.
“The Chinese youth will benefit from a complete approach to player development that combines NBA-quality coaching with NBA-level training,” said the retired Lakers star.