Britons left stranded in Caribbean as Florida prepares for Hurricane Irma
Over a quarter of state’s population flee after death toll reaches 25 and storm reduces islands to rubble
BRITISH tourists were last night left to face a second Caribbean hurricane while the US airlifted its own citizens to safety.
There was growing criticism of the delays in British rescue efforts, with hundreds of expats and holidaymakers stranded and several missing.
Liz Jackson and Craig Guest, from Barnsley, South Yorks, said they were refused spaces on the last military planes to leave the island of St Martin for the US because there was no arrangement with the British government.
Irma, which has killed at least 25 people on its deadly path, was due to strike the US mainland today. Curfews were in place across much of southern Florida and cities turned into ghost towns after 6.3million people were told to leave their homes and seek shelter. Police officers who in the days up to Irma’s arrival had been patrolling with loud hailers, telling people to leave, have packed up and gone.
Across the Caribbean, residents were last night preparing for the imminent onslaught of a second hurricane, Jose, following the damage already caused by Irma. A team of Metropolitan Police officers was being deployed to the British Virgin Islands to assist in the policing response to the emergency. The team boarded a military flight from RAF Brize Norton to Barbados, tasked with “maintaining general law and order”.
Dutch officials said 70 per cent of homes in Sint Maarten were damaged. The entire population of 1,800 people on Barbuda, left a wasteland by Irma, were evacuated ahead of Jose’s arrival.
The UK Government has pledged to double any public donations to the British Red Cross appeal for victims of Hurricane Irma. For every £1 given towards the relief effort, another £1 will be added, up to £3million.
FLORIDA’S streets were deserted last night as the state’s 20million people prepared for the arrival of one of the most powerful storms to ever hit their region.
Around 6.3million people, over a quarter of the state’s population, were ordered to evacuate, with 51,000 people hunkered down in 300 shelters. Irma was last night downgraded to a category three storm, but the strength was expected to surge once more as it approached the Florida Keys this morning and scooped up warm, shallow water.
The sky turned black as the first storm winds barrelled into southern Florida yesterday morning. Fort Lauderdale’s city centre was deserted except for a lone police car. Some businesses had boarded up their windows. The entrances to petrol stations, long since emptied of fuel, were taped off like crime scenes.
At Dania Beach Marina, right in the path of any storm surge, Greg Heath said he was preparing to ride out the storm in his 40ft-fibre-glass hulled boat the Last Meridian, where he has lived for the past five years.
“I’ve ridden out three hurricanes and this one will be as dangerous for people inland as it will be for people in boats,” he said.
As he lashed down loose gear, he said he planned to dive into a nearby concrete building if it got too dangerous.
“It could be complete devastation,” admitted the army veteran. “But I’ve been to war. I’ve seen worse in Iraq. The idea is that we can come straight back to see what state she is in.”
Two surfers used the opportunity to ride some empty waves on Dania Beach, where a family with shovels surreptitiously filled sand bags to protect their home.
Many residents – veterans of previous storms – met the imminent arrival of Irma with a mix of resignation, fatalism and humour. They gathered at Beach Betty’s bar to swap tips and en- joy a final beer. Harriet Schulte had made her preparations, filling her bathtub with water and wrapping valuables in plastic, and said there was nothing to do but wait.
“We are going to be stuck inside for three days,” she said, “so we may as well have a drink now.”
The city’s airport closed on Friday evening as airlines scrambled to get as many people to safety as they could.
Among those flying in were people whose aged parents had retired to Florida and now lived in the storm’s path.
Sharon Meyers Izzo arrived on one of the last flights from New York to help her 90-year-old father and 86-year-old mother to safety. They had so far refused her pleas by telephone to move north and inland to stay with relatives.
The hurricane has already scythed its way through the Caribbean, reducing the island of Barbuda to rubble and leaving at least 25 people dead: 10 in the French islands of Saint Martin and St Barts, six in British overseas territories, four in the US Virgin Islands, two in Puerto Rico, two in the Dutch territory of Sint Maarten on St Martin and one in Barbuda.
Sir Richard Branson’s home on the island of Necker in the British Virgin Islands was left uninhabitable.
Sam Branson, the entrepreneur’s 32-year-old son, appealed online for help to rebuild the battered islands.
“‘If you have boats, then please get them to the BVI,” he said. “Boats are piled up like matchsticks in the harbour. Huge cargo ships were thrown out of the water and into rocks. Resorts have been decimated. But the whole British Virgin Islands community is rallying round.”
Looting left residents of Sint Maarten terrified. Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, last night issued a stern warning, yet admitted the situation has “not yet been brought under control”.
Many were evacuated from St Martin and St Barts as a second hurricane, Jose, closed in and the islands were again placed under a hurricane warning, although Barbuda and Anguilla looked to be spared, with warnings downgraded to tropical storm alerts.
President Donald Trump held a full cabinet meeting – his fourth since taking office – at Camp David yesterday, and promised to support Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas.
He tweeted information about where to find shelters, avoid road closures, and the best evacuation routes.