MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency
UK declares state of emergency in several Caribbean Overseas Territories hit by hurricane Irma
A state of emergency has been declared in a British Overseas Territory hit by Hurricane Irma. British Virgin Islands governor Gus Jaspert said there were reports of casualties and fatalities, and help had been requested from the UK. He said radio and other communication channels were extremely limited. Read full article
Comments
Disclaimer & comment rulesI think in fairness that being bang in the route of a Cat5 hurricane qualifies as an emergency no matter where you are or what your politics.
Sep 08th, 2017 - 11:45 am - Link - Report abuse +1I hope the damage isn't as severe across the Leeward islands, and the Caribbean as a whole as the pictures suggest.
They should have had plans underway before the Hurricane arrived. It is not that it was unexpected. The French and Dutch are on site with their relief programs.
Sep 08th, 2017 - 01:16 pm - Link - Report abuse +1IN all fairness the French and Dutch have one small territory each - yes each had a warship lurking just clear.
Sep 08th, 2017 - 10:42 pm - Link - Report abuse +1So did UK- a damn big RFA support vessel with lots of facilities and assistance - and it got into first Island hit a few hours after the wind went down.
I believe UK always has a vessel stationed in the area in Hurricane season for that reason.
It takes a bit more time to deploy additional resources - and you cannot have them to close for obvious reasons - and planes can only land where there are reasonable intact runways that will need to be looked over first as well by someone.
I think UK is basically now doing a good job under circumstances of 3 -4 Islands being hit same day. One assumes the armed troops have orders to shoot any looters who fail to stop if challenged.
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