Dominica, September 25, 2017 – Roseau- Residents in Dominica are describing horrific conditions on the island in the wake of the catastrophic Hurricane Maria. Many people have taken to social media to complain about the state of the island.
“Right now I see one of three things happening 1. Getting killed by looters 2. Starving to death! 3. Dying for lack of medical care”, one resident shared on her Facebook page.
Barbadian economist, Jeremy Stephen, was one of several foreign nationals evacuated on Friday by the Barbados Defence Force. He posted an impassioned video to Facebook this morning as he described a country in “crisis mode”.
Stephen said, “A lot of people will be left to starve to death, basically. I had to leave Dominica with that reality in mind.” He said he is concerned about public health as clean drinking water and food is scarce and distribution of relief items was trickling out of Roseau to surrounding areas.
The OECS Bar Association is also concerned about what is happening in Dominica, especially the reports of looting.
Widespread looting has been reported on the island following the catastrophic category 5 hurricane which left 15 people dead and more than 20 missing.
“We have heard of all the reports of looting happening and I know members of the St Lucia Defence Force have gone up to augment the forces there from the Regional Security System already, so we are helping in that respect,” President of the Association Thaddeus Antoine said.
“As lawyers, we are going to help as best as we can in the situation.”
He said the association had started a storm fund to aid members who were affected by Hurricane Irma in Anguilla, the British Virgin Island and Barbuda.
“In case of the Bar Association of the Caribbean, we have asked them to be in solidarity with [us]. We have been and we continue to raise funds to help out the families,” he said.
