Florida and the Caribbean count the cost of deadly Hurricane Irma

We’re sorry, this feature is currently unavailable. We’re working to restore it. Please try again later.

Advertisement

This was published 6 years ago

Florida and the Caribbean count the cost of deadly Hurricane Irma

Updated

Some residents of the Florida Keys archipelago allowed back on Tuesday found homes that Hurricane Irma's high winds had shredded like soda cans, while the death toll rose in the second major hurricane to hit the United States this year.

Irma, one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record before it arrived in the United States, killed 43 people in its rampage through the Caribbean and at least 11 in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina.

On Islamadora Key, one of just three islands where authorities allowed people to return on Tuesday, the aluminum walls of trailer homes had been ripped open by the storm, exposing insulation, bedrooms and kitchens to the sunlight.

More substantial structures, like churches and businesses, showed less damage, although access to harder-hit islands remained closed. Roadsides were littered with mangrove branches, motorboats and even a hot tub.

Jean Chatelier walks through a flooded street from Hurricane Irma in Fort Myers, Florida.

Jean Chatelier walks through a flooded street from Hurricane Irma in Fort Myers, Florida.Credit: AP

A local Florida official said there had been more deaths yet to be reported, particularly on the Keys, where Irma arrived on Key Cudjoe as a Category 4 hurricane with sustained winds of up to 215 km per hour on Sunday.

Local authorities told around 90,000 residents of Miami Beach and people from some parts of the Keys they could go home but warned it might not be prudent to remain there.

"This is going to be a frustrating event. It's going to take some time to let people back into their homes particularly in the Florida Keys," said Brock Long, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The island chain curves southwest from Key Largo to Key West, linked by bridges and causeways.

Some 6.7 million homes and businesses, representing about 13 million people, were still without power in Florida and nearby states on Tuesday, utility companies said, as they scrambled to get the lights back on in one of the biggest power restoration efforts in US history.

Advertisement
Cherie Ethier sits in her mobile home with her pets surrounded by floodwater in Naples, Florida.

Cherie Ethier sits in her mobile home with her pets surrounded by floodwater in Naples, Florida.Credit: AP

Caribbean devastated

Irma devastated several Caribbean islands en route to Florida. It destroyed about one-third of the buildings on the Dutch-ruled portion of St. Martin island, the Dutch Red Cross said on Tuesday.

The historic but often decrepit buildings of Havana and other colonial Cuban cities couldn't stand up to Irma's winds and rainfall, collapsing and killing seven people in one of the highest death tolls from the storm's passage through the Caribbean.

Aerial view showing flooded areas to local villages on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos islands.

Aerial view showing flooded areas to local villages on Providenciales, Turks and Caicos islands.Credit: AP

Three more people were killed by falling objects or drowning, pushing the death toll to 10 - Cuba's worst hurricane death toll since 16 died in Hurricane Dennis in 2005.

French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to cut through red tape to quickly rebuild the islands of the French Caribbean during a visit on Tuesday meant to dispel anger at his government's response.

Yaneisis Martinez hugs her two dogs over the remains of her house in Isabela de Sagua, Cuba.

Yaneisis Martinez hugs her two dogs over the remains of her house in Isabela de Sagua, Cuba.Credit: AP

European countries and the United States have sent troops to deliver aid and provide security after the storm toppled homes and hospitals, but locals and tourists short of food or shelter say help was slow to arrive.

Mr Macron, who is also facing the first test at home of his resolve to reform the economy with a day of protests against his labor reforms, denied authorities were too slow to react.

Cuban officials warned residents to watch for even more flooding over the next few days.

Cuban officials warned residents to watch for even more flooding over the next few days. Credit: AP

Basic services in the region were lost after Irma, weakening law and order, and looting erupted on some islands. Haiti's government said on Tuesday more than 10,000 people were in shelters after heavy rains flooded the former French colony.

Mr Macron was due to travel on Tuesday to St. Martin, an island France shares with the Netherlands that suffered some of the worst devastation from Irma. Most of the 10 people killed by Irma lived on French territories there.

"St. Martin will be reborn, I promise," Mr Macron told reporters in Pointe-a-Pitre, on the French island of Guadeloupe. "I will shake up all the rules and procedures so the job is done as quickly as possible. It will be done quickly, it will be done well, and it will be done better," he said.

Mr Macron said 50 million euros will be made available as soon as possible, and 2,000 security forces have been deployed, including the army, roughly double the original contingent.

The French government has said it would take at least three months for water distribution to normalise. The electricity supply has also been badly hit, authorities said.

Loading

British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also travelled on Tuesday to the Caribbean to visit British territories devastated by Irma. Among the hardest hit islands were the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, plus Antigua and Bermuda.

Reuters and AP

Most Viewed in World

Loading