As some of you will know, many of my closest relatives live on the British Virgin Islands. You will therefore understand that the last few days have been a period of intense worry about their safety and well being. We lost contact with them last Wednesday morning and they didn't manage to get a message out of the island until late yesterday (Saturday). The good news is that they are all safe: however, like most of the other residents of the islands, they face an immediate future where their homes and businesses have been devastated. Although aid is beginning to arrive, the challenge of rebuilding the basic infrastructure of the island is going to be massive. Hurricanes move on - and our thoughts are now with the people of Florida who are currently facing the wrath of Irma - but the destruction they cause last for a very long time. Our help, support and solidarity will be needed long after the storms have calmed.
You are so right to signal that after the news headlines have faded away, places struck by powerful hurricanes take years to fully recover. I am pleased to learn that your people are physically safe. It must have been a great relief to get that news.
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear they are safe, they have a long road and struggle ahead of them, God Bless....
ReplyDeleteGood news indeed that your family is safe. And I've been through that aftermath several times now, having spent most of my life on the East Coast. Not as bad as this, maybe, but bad enough to know how long it takes to come back from such destruction, Here's to all those who live in the affected areas and their road to recovery!
ReplyDeletePlease let your relatives know we hurt too, and are funding relief organizations as quickly as we can.This is so horrid.
ReplyDeleteOur hearts go out to them.
ReplyDeleteI take it this means your brother and family are doing OK which is great news. It really makes you think how we whine about European weather doesn't it?
ReplyDeleteAlan.I Am Glad to Hear They Are Safe. Best Wishes, T.
ReplyDeleteA first relief for you, after waiting days concerned about your friends...and like everyone else says, it's a shame that news only gives interest in the beginning of disasters, not the long grind of recovering from them.
ReplyDeleteSo glad they've made it through, but I'm so sorry that they've been faced with so much destruction.
ReplyDeleteInterestingly, the original publisher of this photograph (not my dear brother) has tilted the image four degrees to the left, thus making it appear that there has been land movement in addition to wind damage. The impact of Hurricane Irma is bad enough without "slanted" reporting.
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear your folks are OK though they face a struggle to get back to rights now. Thoughts are with them.
ReplyDeleteSo good for you to know all are safe but what follows is yet to be figured our. Relef is never swift.
ReplyDelete