Hurricane Erma and St Martin vs Barbuda

[David]

The French sent supplies to French St Martin the day after Erma and 18 miles across the water the British sent supplies to British Barbuda six days after Erma. Sad.

A quick scan of BBC.com doesn't even mention Barbuda. A search shows an article on the problems on Barbuda six days ago and now crickets!

This makes Bush and Katrina look like mother Teresa.

[stomachmonkey]

Total population under 2,000.

Everyone was evacuated to Antigua.

There is no one there to send supplies to.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Think you need to practice your spelling and make sure everyone in Florida has power before you cast judgement on other areas hit by Irma

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Didn't the British sent a whole contingent of stuff to the BVI? Maybe that's the main distribution hub for things for their interests in that area? Not sure...

Not a peep about Cuba, which got a shellacking too. We don't like their government so the plight of their people gets ignored...

Barbuda was for all practical purposes destroyed. It may or may not even make sense to rebuild / reinhabit it at all. I thought all the survivors had been evac-ed off. IMHO it ought to be turned into a nature preserve and abandoned based on the reports I've read (90% destroyed including critical infrastructure). But we humans are pretty stubborn / stupid and don't learn (I predict it will be dotted with poorly constructed shacks and ticky-tack stores selling gullible tourists shells and junk made in China with "Barbuda" on it again in a matter of a few years...)

The FL keys are still (as I understand) in a de facto state of anarchy with rampant looting, robbery, an explosion of insects (and associated disease), illness, etc. BAD situation until power, some semblance of order, running water and supplies get in, which could be WEEKS.

I have a good friend who lives in KW (evacuated and has been holed up in New Orleans since the day before Irma hit). He's only now starting to come to the realization that he has no job to go back to (and no money) and may not even be able to go home for a very long time. Even if / when he returns it's quite likely there won't be anythjng left between the water damage and the looters.

[David]

Actually Anguilla is what I meant. The hurricane coverage on PBS news paints a pretty bleak picture of Britain's support of the British Virgin Islands vs support sent by the US and the French to their islands.

[stomachmonkey]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/09/15/on-tiny-barbuda-a-300-year-old-civilization-has-been-extinguished/?utm_term=.b71a67dc9064

[dad911]

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

.....

The FL keys are still (as I understand) in a de facto state of anarchy with rampant looting, robbery, an explosion of insects (and associated disease), illness, etc. BAD situation until power, some semblance of order, running water and supplies get in, which could be WEEKS.

I have a good friend who lives in KW (evacuated and has been holed up in New Orleans since the day before Irma hit). He's only now starting to come to the realization that he has no job to go back to (and no money) and may not even be able to go home for a very long time. Even if / when he returns it's quite likely there won't be anythjng left between the water damage and the looters.

Not true. Upper keys had major surges and wind damage. Newer homes mostly standing, roofs, boats and trailer homes took a beating. You can see imagery here: https://storms.ngs.noaa.gov/storms/irma/index.html

However, Key west had very little damage. Not much water, until leaks fixed they only turn it on a few hours a day, power coming back quickly, yesterday they were rotating brownouts, they have restored power to supermarkets & some commercial areas first. Cell phone comms came back yesterday. Some businesses open, All will be able to open when power and water restored, until then it's a refrigeration & health (clean water) issue. I have a friend on the ground there, been talking to him daily. Only damage he's seen is wind/trees related.

Tell him to get info from reliable sources like this: https://www.facebook.com/kaufman2015/

Lots of fake news. Images from Sandy in NJ, etc. For example, these images are not from key west: See how Irma wrecked Key West | New York Post

Tell him to contact his employer, they all plan to re-open when residents are allowed back in.

He can apply to Fema now for financial help (rent, etc).

If you PM me where he used to work, and his KW address, can try to get more info.

tldr; Key West dodged a bullet, other keys devastated.

Edit: New info, keys will be open for residents through 7 mile bridge tomorrow, and expect key west to be open shortly after.

[JeremyD]

Originally Posted by David

The French sent supplies to French St Martin the day after Erma and 18 miles across the water the British sent supplies to British Barbuda six days after Erma. Sad.

A quick scan of BBC.com doesn't even mention Barbuda. A search shows an article on the problems on Barbuda six days ago and now crickets!

This makes Bush and Katrina look like mother Teresa.

Actually it was the Dutch Military that arrived the next day in Sint Marteen - the French did not arrive for several days and bought minimal supplies - it has gotten so bad there (looting) that for the first time since 1648 they have closed the French / Dutch Boarder.

The Dutch were instrumental in opening the airport (the famous Princess Juliana Airport) so that US C-130's could land and evacuate around 6,000 Americans that were living on the island - or the approximately 350 students going to Medical School at the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (which was my daughter)

Looters 'armed with machetes and guns' ransack hotels on St Maarten after Hurricane Irma | Metro News

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Thanks will do. I know he's in New Orleans right now with his roommates and they're all trying to figure out what to do (get jobs and plan on staying or what) now. Lots of conflicting info. coming out but it sounds pretty bad for the most part... I'm hoping the resources get there ASAP and they're able to get power restored as a start.

[dad911]

Tell your friend water is back on Stock Island, alot more electric service in KW. Might let residents back early next week. My guess is they need hospital and staff back online, and are staging so as not to clog Rt 1.

In addition to Fema, looks like IRS has relief for Irma victims. Wish I looked into that one for Sandy.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

Thanks - I'm also trying to get a report from someone else I know who's with the USCG deployed there (had been in TX dealing with Harvey, now this...) but haven't been able to. I really wonder how the scene looks in Havana about 90 miles south... gotta be awful there.

[Borders Reivers]

French are well organized and have direct access to France through the old Concorde runway on Martinique.

Was running comm gear on Dominica in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo paid a visit. Though Dominica is an independent island, the French sent an army officer and medical nurse to talk to us about options and get an idea of what we were and location.

We were going to hole-up in an inland cave with warm water spring but chose to catch the last plane off the island the Saturday morning that Hugo struck.

French have always been good to us.

[Neilk]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-weather-gang/wp/2017/09/15/on-tiny-barbuda-a-300-year-old-civilization-has-been-extinguished/?utm_term=.b71a67dc9064

Two quotes from that article stood out

1. "All 1,800 residents now are homeless, having been evacuated to the sister island of Antigua."

2. "Reconstruction could cost up to $300 million, Sanders has estimated."

So $300 million divided by 1,800 = $166,666.67.

They should offer each resident some amount under $166K to permanently relocate and let the island revert back to nature after some minor clean up. Sad for the prior residents, but many may come out ahead.