Disaster relief seldom happens overnight and in the case of the Caribbean, it is rarely around the corner when you need help now. The islands most affected by the two Hurricanes that made landfalls in the past two weeks are:
- Barbuda
- Antigua
- Anguilla
- St Maarten
- Saba
- St Eustacia
- St Barths
- Dominica
- Guadeloupe
- Martinique
- St Croix
- St Thomas
- St John
- Tortola
- Virgin Gorda
- Culebra
- Vieques
- Puerto Rico
- Dominican Republic
- Cuba
- St Kitts & Nevis
- Turks & Caicos
- Florida Keys
That doesn't leave many islands left unscathed or in shape enough to assist their neighbors. Surprisingly, the Bahamas were only grazed by the storms. I attached below, three articles that illustrate where the levels of government support have gotten.
The amount of support so far with each storm has been dictated by location, severity of damage and international relationships. Some of the islands fall under the protection of the Dutch, UK, France, US and some are sovereign.
An island such as Dominica is sovereign and will need a great deal of support from Caribbean coalitions and friendly nations just to survive the aftermath of Maria. Thankfully Martinique, her Southern neighbor was not as affected as Dominica and has been able to help immediately. Trinidad & Tobago have picked up the relief efforts there as well and so has Venezuela, sending supplies via boat.
France, UK and the Dutch have formed a coalition to best use the resources they have in the area to assist their islands. The US is also planning to assist the coalition. The Dutch called back their largest ship from a Military exercise, loaded it with supplies and it's 10 days out from the Lesser Antilles.
Puerto Rico and the USVI's have the good fortune of being relatively near their Mother country, the US. A massive amount of aid can be expected to be delivered to San Juan Harbor in the next few days as well as a squadron of aircraft dropping supplies at SJU airport, to be dispersed around the US possessions.
Sovereign Cuba has received aid from Venezuela.
It takes time and a stoic disposition to survive and overcome two of the most destructive storms ever experienced in the Caribbean basin. Some of the islands have had to show great patience with the speed in which help has dribbled in from abroad, others are seeing only a 36 hour wait for assistance.
Be as patient as you can, help is on its way.
Further Reading
https://www.fema.gov/news-release/2017/09/21/hurricane-maria-response-and-relief-operations-underway
