紧急救援人员和国民警卫队努力寻找被飓风艾玛困在佛罗里达群岛上的灾民。与此同时,法国和英国保证,要向加勒比海法属和英属地区提供更多的支援。
法国总统马卡龙星期三前往圣马丁和圣巴泰勒米岛视察。一天前,马卡龙在瓜德罗普承认,有人认为法国提供的帮助不够,因此感到气愤。马卡龙保证要向受灾的岛屿提供更多供给和保安部队。
英国外交大臣约翰逊星期三在安圭拉和英属维京群岛视察,这两个岛屿上周都受到了5级飓风艾玛的重创。约翰逊也表示,更多的安全部队和“大量供给”马上就到,他预计英国首相特蕾莎·梅星期三将宣布提供更多的援助。
联合国正向安提瓜岛、圣马丁岛以及特克斯和凯科斯群岛空运食物和最基本的救灾物资。
飓风艾玛在加勒比海造成至少37人丧生,对各岛屿造成重大破坏,其中包括巴布达岛,那里的居民已经全部撤离到安提瓜。
美国佛罗里达州据信有12人死于飓风艾玛,乔治亚州和南卡罗莱纳州也共有6人丧生。
佛罗里达群岛是美国受灾最严重的地区。除了搜救工作外,国民警卫队还在努力清理道路和机场跑道,以便救命的供给物资可以顺利运达。
美国联邦紧急事务管理署负责人布洛克·朗说,据初步估计,四分之一的建筑都摧毁,65%受到了严重破坏。
布洛克·朗说:“总的来说,群岛上的每一栋房子都多多少少受到了影响。”
Emergency workers and National Guard troops are working to find those left stranded in the Florida Keys by Hurricane Irma, while France and Britain pledge to boost their response to those hit by the storms in their territories in the Caribbean.
French President Emmanuel Macron is visiting Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy on Wednesday, a day after arriving in Guadeloupe where he acknowledged the angry response some people have to what they see as inadequate help from France. Macron promised more supplies and security forces for the islands.
British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson is touring Wednesday in Anguilla and the British Virgin Islands, two places that took hard hits from Irma last week when it was a powerful Category 5 storm. He also said more security forces and “huge quantities of supplies” were coming, and that he expects Prime Minister Theresa May to announce further aid on Wednesday.
The United Nations is airlifting food and other vital relief to the islands of Antigua, St. Martin, and the Turks and Caicos.
The hurricane killed at least 37 people in the Caribbean and devastated the islands, including Barbuda, which has evacuated all of its citizens to Antigua.
A further 12 deaths have been linked to Irma in the U.S. state of Florida, and a total of six others in Georgia and South Carolina.
The Florida Keys were the hardest-hit area on the U.S. mainland. In addition to rescue operations there, National Guard troops are also working to clear roads and runways in order to allow deliveries of life-saving supplies to the island chain.
The head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Brock Long, said that according to preliminary estimates, 25 percent of homes were destroyed and 65 percent sustained major damage.
“Basically, every house in the Keys was impacted in some way or another,” Long said.