French president, Dutch king visit islands devastated by Irma
PHILIPSBURG, St. Maarten — France’s president and the Dutch king visited Caribbean territories on Tuesday that were hammered by Hurricane Irma, bringing in muchneeded food, water and medical supplies amid accusations that European governments had been unprepared and slow to react in their responses to the devastation.
The Dutch Red Cross said more than 200 people were still listed as missing on St. Maarten, but with communications spotty a week after the storm hit it wasn’t clear how many were simply without cell service and power and unable to let friends and family know they had survived. The organization said 90 percent of buildings on the Dutch territory were damaged and a third destroyed as Irma roared across the island it shares with French St. Martin.
For Liseth Echevarría, who works as a bartender in St. Maarten, offering whatever she could to family, strangers and abandoned pets was helping her to cope.
The manager of a marina next door t offered them a temporary power connection from his generator so they could charge phones and listen to the sole radio station still broadcasting.
“This is the only communication that St. Maarten has with the world right now,” the 27-year-old said.
French President Emmanuel Macron flew into Guadeloupe on Tuesday before heading to hard-hit St. Martin, where he met with residents.
Macron said 11 people were killed in St. Martin, while another four people died on the Dutch side of the island, bringing the death toll in the Caribbean to at least 37.
Dutch King Willem-Alexander, who arrived in St. Maarten on Monday, said the scenes of devastation he witnessed in the hurricane’s aftermath were the worst he had ever seen.
“I’ve never experienced anything like this before and I’ve seen a lot of natural disasters in my life. I’ve seen a lot of war zones in my life, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” he said.