Now, a few days after hurricane Irma weakened and left Florida and the virgin Islands, the survivors tell their stories. And these stories are sometimes afraid of not less than the element.
Mary Ann Steele, a mother of two young children and a resident of the island of St. John (the smallest but richest among the U.S. virgin Islands) are unable to evacuate before the hurricane, as all flights were booked.
When the family went outside after Irma, she did not recognize the island.
«Telephone poles were turned out. Not broken, but just «uprooted» and gone with the wind. They are left only holes in the ground,» says Mary Ann the edition People. «Clearly there was not a single tornado».
According to the woman, locals had to take the law into their own hands, as neither the police nor the National guard was not there.
«Some days I did not see any soldier, any police officer. Residents were patrolling the neighborhood.»
Mary Steele says: when she and her husband and children arrived at the home of their friends in coral Bay, people met them with loaded crossbows.
«Our friends also picked up crossbows, because we got there when it was dark and they didn’t know who was coming. Law-abiding citizens were afraid and defended ourselves as we could.»
The first night in the house of friends Mary and her husband Carl have witnessed a number of robberies.
«And the whole island was enveloped in a heavy smell – the smell of dead animals. We saw dead donkeys, turtles, chickens…».
Mary Ann, like many (according to her) inhabitants of the U.S. virgin Islands consider themselves abandoned.
«There is help, but all focused on Florida,» she says. «We too are Americans, and our Islands completely devastated.»
However, she remains optimistic. «We will survive» — says Mary. «The virgin Islands have amazing resilience.»
Let’s remind, that on this island rushed dozens of boats from Puerto Rico — so that the incident even came to be called the «second Dunkirk».
