Once the jewel of the Us virgin Islands, St. John now lies in ruins. Most of all, he looks like a dump from the wreckage of boards and metal.
Only six days after she swept from the face of the earth restaurants, hotels and homes, got here the national guard. Many islanders say this is too long.
According to The Washington Post, the streets of Cruz Bay, the largest settlement on the island (about 5 thousand people) was covered with garbage and littered with broken trees. On some streets, the boats that was blown here during a storm.
«Hurricanes? We have experienced many hurricanes. But I’ve never seen anything like it,» says Jerry O’connell, a native of the island. And it’s not just about Irma.
Immediately after the hurricane left the island and headed further North here, and on other Islands of the Caribbean, reign of iniquity. Looters had broken into the territory offices, plundered houses, stole all the ATMs. Heard a rumor on one of the British virgin Islands prisoners escaped from prison, seized weapons and formed gangs.
Abandoned, unprotected, not having the opportunity to call the police, some islanders began to organize a vigil and sleep in shifts.
The owner of the local café Joe Decourcy says that outside, the inhabitants of the island saw a post-apocalyptic landscape. «We wandered as in «the Walking dead» — he says. Right in front of his cafe was a sailboat.
Residents quickly teamed up and began sharing food, but later it turned out that the situation is much worse than they thought.
Survivors on St. John Island, USVI are eating MRE’s and Red Cross meals to stay fed. NAT’l Guard moving off of some island @FOXNashville pic.twitter.com/6HByvducBe
— Matt Alvarez (@MAlvarezFOX17) September 9, 2017
«The island was cut off. There is no cellular connection. There is no electricity. No Wi-Fi. You can’t call the police,» recalls Decurse.
Many asked the question: when will help come, when will come the national guard, because it is a territory of the United States? But there was no answer.
«Last Friday I saw a man on the street with a machete, who cried: «the time of the robbery!», says the 38-year-old David Damron, an employee of the local veterinary clinics.
But assistance came from concerned people, mostly from the coast of Puerto Rico. And…from Maryland. A resident of Maryland, Nils Erickson, who was born on the island of St. John, has started a fundraiser on GoFundMe, and urged all who have the opportunity to take with the destruction of the island even those who are in need.
And then the island there are so many Puerto Rican boatsthat the locals called it «the real Navy». On private boats from the island took more than 600 residents.
«It was our own Dunkirk,» said Sergeant Richard Dominguez from the police Department of the virgin Islands. «They came on their boats, not waiting for the rescue workers and the military.»
In turn, Kenneth MAPP, Governor of the U.S. virgin Islands, insists that the island had not been looted.
He noted that all who need assistance have been evacuated on the island restored wireless.
Also, according to Mappa, he had a conversation with President trump, who is instructed to assess the damage caused to the Islands this week.
Reference: Dunkerska operation — operation during the French campaign of the Second world war the evacuation by sea of British, French and Belgian parts, blocked off the town of Dunkirk by German forces after the Dunkirk battle.
For transportation of people were mobilized small craft: boats, Harbor tugs, fishing boats and private sailing yacht.
