Caribbean braces for Jose as death toll climbs

POINTE-À-PITRE, Guadeloupe — As communications started to be restored to the storm-ravaged islands of the Caribbean, five deaths were reported from the British Virgin Islands, raising the toll across the Caribbean to 25 people as the islands braced for yet another storm that was set to strike Saturday.

The new hurricane, Jose, is expected to wreak less damage than Hurricane Irma, whose passage through the eastern Caribbean left a wake of destruction that could take years to settle, leveling 90 percent of the buildings on some islands. But it has created a new problem in an already troubled recovery effort: The impending storm has halted all aid to the most affected areas because of safety concerns.

That will leave thousands of people who are already stranded and stripped of their possessions waiting several more days for much-needed aid. And officials worry the number of dead could rise as the full extent of the devastation becomes known.

“I’ve been working in the Caribbean for 10 years, and this is the first time I have seen a situation like this,” said Raphael Hamoir, emergency coordinator for the French Red Cross in the region. “We are talking about existing devastation from a Category 5 hurricane, and right as we are starting the relief operation, we have another hurricane coming.”

Residents and visitors to the islands of St. Martin and St. Barthélemy were left stranded by the storm. Many are in need of food and water, roads have yet to be cleared and power is out across much of the area.