Desperation Mounts in Caribbean Islands: ‘All the Food Is Gone’

Hurricane Irma has left several Caribbean island desperately short of food.

“All the food is gone now,” Jacques Charbonnier, a 63-year-old resident of St. Martin, said in an interview on Sunday. “People are fighting in the streets for what is left.”

"Residents of St. Martin, and elsewhere in the region, spoke about a general disintegration of law and order as survivors struggled in the face of severe food and water shortages, and the absence of electricity and phone service."


These islands are under control of foreign governments and those governments are being criticized for their slow responded.
Rightly so I might add.

"As reports of increasing desperation continued to emerge from the region over the weekend, governments in Britain, France and the Netherlands, which oversee territories in the region, stepped up their response. They defended themselves against criticism that their reaction had been too slow, and insufficient."

Mother nature sure does let us know who's really in charge. Hopefully these people will receive aid very swiftly.


mobile.nytimes.com...://www.drudgereport.com/

a reply to: Bluntone22

A sign of the times. Surely, some other countries can provide donations or support to assist them during this tough time.

Big government failures all over the place with this disaster.

originally posted by: Bluntone22
Hurricane Irma has left several Caribbean island desperately short of food.

“All the food is gone now,” Jacques Charbonnier, a 63-year-old resident of St. Martin, said in an interview on Sunday. “People are fighting in the streets for what is left.”

"Residents of St. Martin, and elsewhere in the region, spoke about a general disintegration of law and order as survivors struggled in the face of severe food and water shortages, and the absence of electricity and phone service."


These islands are under control of foreign governments and those governments are being criticized for their slow responded.
Rightly so I might add.

"As reports of increasing desperation continued to emerge from the region over the weekend, governments in Britain, France and the Netherlands, which oversee territories in the region, stepped up their response. They defended themselves against criticism that their reaction had been too slow, and insufficient."

Mother nature sure does let us know who's really in charge. Hopefully these people will receive aid very swiftly.


mobile.nytimes.com...://www.drudgereport.com/

Shows you how quickly the thin veneer of civil society goes away once disaster strikes.

Even though I live in an area with few to no natural disasters, I am still starting to prep a bit for any scenario where we may wind up with out power, food, gas, or water for an extended period. You just never know.

originally posted by: xuenchen
Big government failures all over the place with this disaster.

I'm sure the US citizens will step up like we always do only to have our generosity quickly forgotten.

a reply to: xuenchen

Weren't the Keys under mandatory evacuation?

Storm is long goin so get some nets go get fish .
Its a island surrounded by ocean there are lots of fish in the ocean .
Or they can sit and starve . Hoping someone will feed them .

Having food in stores is nice makes life so much easier .
But we are not talking about deslet wast lands here .

These islands fead them self's with fish for 1000s of years before any country did any thing have they forgotten that ?

a reply to: midnightstar

Maybe the 150 mile an hour winds put some holes in their boats.

originally posted by: midnightstar
Storm is long goin so get some nets go get fish .
Its a island surrounded by ocean there are lots of fish in the ocean .
Or they can sit and starve . Hoping someone will feed them .

Having food in stores is nice makes life so much easier .
But we are not talking about deslet wast lands here .

These islands fead them self's with fish for 1000s of years before any country did any thing have they forgotten that ?

Vast majority of people don't know that food doesn't come in styrofoam containers much less how to fish or hunt.

So the people in the Caribbean Islands want help from outside governments is this the same people who have gone to the Caribbean to evade paying taxes to the very countries and systems they now demand help from mmmmmmmmmmm it is the height of hypocrisy for me, to demand help, either you pay into a system that can help in times of need or you are a capitalist and believe in market forces

originally posted by: Bluntone22
a reply to: midnightstar

Maybe the 150 mile an hour winds put some holes in their boats.

That's exactly the problem. Most of the fishing fleets got wiped out. Or the docks. Or the shoreside processing and handling units.

It's okay, the U.K are sending troops and police officers to restore order.

Maybe they will send some food as well, but that hasn't been mentioned. Just military personnel and police officers.

originally posted by: midnightstar
Storm is long goin so get some nets go get fish .
Its a island surrounded by ocean there are lots of fish in the ocean .
Or they can sit and starve . Hoping someone will feed them .

Having food in stores is nice makes life so much easier .
But we are not talking about deslet wast lands here .

These islands fead them self's with fish for 1000s of years before any country did any thing have they forgotten that ?

Yes, because like lots of Americans, they've been taught it’s easier to let the government feed and clothe you and yours. I would be surprised if 1 in 50 even know how to begin to catch a fish, let alone start a fire without an electric fire starter in order to cook it. This isn’t written to disparage the residents of the Caribbean islands as the same observation can be made of Houston and Miami residents. It’s meant to warn people to quit letting the government turn you into a food/water/goods recipient on the public dole (outside of disaster aftermath). The government may be gone one day...learn to support yourself for when that time comes!

a reply to: xuenchen

I''m wondering they are saying to themselves, "Let the US do it." That has been a common theme for well over half a century.

originally posted by: csimon
a reply to: xuenchen

Weren't the Keys under mandatory evacuation?

? What does that have to do with the obvious failures by governments other than the U.S. ?

? Point ?

? Opinion ?

a reply to: Bluntone22

I read an article (somewhere) that some cruise ships were on their way with some sort of aid/supplies. Hopefully they get there quickly, with water at the very least.
I imagine some sort of authorities will have to be at the dock overseeing distribution.

a reply to: xuenchen

Only that the government is usually responsible for issuing the mandatory evacuation. Mandatory doesn't mean optional.
So why blame the government?

I'm not saying that they are not in a bad way or that they shouldn't get help. Just that sometimes compliance is the way to go.

originally posted by: TNMockingbird
a reply to: Bluntone22

I read an article (somewhere) that some cruise ships were on their way with some sort of aid/supplies. Hopefully they get there quickly, with water at the very least.
I imagine some sort of authorities will have to be at the dock overseeing distribution.

I seem to recall that when relief supplies were sent to Haiti, they just sat at the airport because they did not have a way to distribute them.

originally posted by: csimon
a reply to: xuenchen

Only that the government is usually responsible for issuing the mandatory evacuation. Mandatory doesn't mean optional.
So why blame the government?

I'm not saying that they are not in a bad way or that they shouldn't get help. Just that sometimes compliance is the way to go.

Was there any mandatory evacuation orders in the islands under non-US government control ?

Cannot speak for the other nations who manage their territories in a different way, but the British Overseas Territories effected are Anguilla, Turks and Caicos, and the British Virgin Islands. Beyond the sensationalism the UK has already deployed troops, naval assets and policemen. Doubtless over the next few months they will help rebuild. Same as in Florida for the Americans.

Politicians always seek political points from natural disasters, and the media seek to sensationalise. However the proof is in what's done to help British citizens.