PARIS: France, the Netherlands and Britain on Thursday sent water, emergency rations and rescue teams to their stricken territories in the Caribbean hit by Hurricane Irma, with aid efforts complicated by damage to local airports and harbours.

The worst-affected island so far is Saint Martin, which is divided between the Netherlands and France, where French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe confirmed four people were killed and 50 more injured.

Helicopter footage showed the holiday destination transformed into a disaster zone, with cars and shipping containers overturned, buildings stripped of their roofs, and wrecked boats and palm trees flung far and wide.

“Lots of people are just wandering around aimlessly, as they have no homes any more and don’t know what to do,” local newspaper editor Paul de Windt told the Paradise FM radio station from the island, which is home to around 80,000 people.

Philippe said that 95 per cent of homes had been damaged and 60 per cent had been rendered uninhabitable by the torrential rain and winds of Irma, which were clocked at up to 295 kilometres per hour.

US President Donald Trump owns a luxury property on the French side of the volcanic island whose normally pristine beaches and nightlife sustain a vibrant local tourism industry which is the island’s biggest employer.

The airport on the Dutch part of St Martin, known as Sint Maarten in the Netherlands, has been badly damaged and the harbour was out of service, making it difficult for authorities to bring in supplies.

French Interior Minister Gerard Collomb said that the airport on the French side had “not been hit so much”, allowing helicopters and other aircraft to fly in 100,000 emergency rations, fresh water and equipment.

“The destruction is massive,” Collomb told reporters in Paris, with rescue efforts hampered by blocked roads and damage to the vehicles and buildings belonging to the local police and fire services.

Engineers were working to restore mobile telephone service and electricity networks which were knocked out by the storm.

Isolated islands

Around 200 French troops, rescuers, soldiers and medics as well as military helicopters and a transport plane, have flown to the Caribbean where efforts are being coordinated from the larger French island of Guadeloupe.

French President Emmanuel Macron will travel “as soon as possible” to the region, where the European-run islands are a legacy of colonialism.

The Dutch defence ministry had stationed two naval vessels in the area before the storm equipped with a helicopter and supplies, while two military planes and at least 100 soldiers are also involved in aid efforts.

“The priority now is to bring emergency aid to the people... consisting of sending food and water to 40,000 people over the coming five days,” Dutch Interior Minister Ronald Plasterk said.

British efforts are focused on trying to reach the island of Anguilla, whose port and airport are both closed, according to Alan Duncan, a junior foreign minister. “Anguilla received the hurricane’s full blast,” he told parliament, adding that the British Virgin Islands had also been hit, while the Turks and Caicos islands were next in line.

“The initial assessment is that the damage has been severe and in places critical,” he said of Anguilla. The government set aside an initial $15.5 million for immediate relief and is sending a navy boat to help with rescue efforts.

Millionaire’s paradise

A day after the Category 5 hurricane smashed its way across St Martin, French teams were also heading for the much smaller nearby French island of St Barthelemy, also known as St Barts.

Rescue dogs have been flown in because “unfortunately there is work to be done on St Barts where the damage is very significant”, French Overseas Territories Minister Annick Girardin said.

No deaths have been reported there but infrastructure and building damage is extensive.

St Barts, home to around 9,500 people, is a playground for the rich and famous including past visitors Beyonce, Steven Spielberg and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2017