Five fatalities resulting from Irma – Governor

It has been officially confirmed that at least five persons in the territory lost their lives as a result of Hurricane Irma.

“There has been a lot of devastation, a lot of infrastructure that’s been damaged, and we have confirmed five fatalities as a result of the hurricane,” Governor Gus Jaspert disclosed in an audio release earlier this evening.

Meanwhile, the Governor said that despite challenges the government is “getting back onto its feet” in terms of its ability to coordinate relief efforts.

“We’ve got a response centre essentially functioning. We are now able to coordinate response relief and supply efforts. International assistance has arrived; the United Kingdom. We’ve got a ship here; we also got marines here who are deployed, who are assisting us and we are starting to get over.”

“Relief supplies are being delivered to our sister Islands as well,” he said.

International media

Noting that communication is still very limited throughout the territory, Governor Jaspert appealed to international media organizations to help with the dissemination of the information.

“Because communication is still very limited, there is something the international media can do for us to help, which is that we can now and then reach communications outside the BVI. We have very limited communications inside the BVI,” he said.

The Governor, in the meantime, warned residents that while the Tropical Storm Watch issued for the territory has been lifted, flooding is still likely.

“So, in light of this, residents of the BVI are still advised to remain in a safe location, especially those in low-lying and flood-prone areas.”

He added: “Secondly, you must be indoors between the hours of 6:00 pm and 6:00 am… it is really important to help us get on with the response and with the recovery here.”