Monday September 11, 2017
My attention this past week has been on the wake of devastation of Hurricane Irma. It has been devastating as she wove her path through the Caribbean. Irma impacted some of my most favourite places on earth. I have had the great good fortune to have visited all of the islands touched by this hurricane. I have spent many happy hours at these island's beach bars and yacht clubs some of which no longer exist. Sure, I am a tourist with very happy memories of these beautiful spots but in reality these islands are home to thousands of citizens who lived through I am sure sheer terror to come through it and find destruction everywhere. Their homeland and their homes needing to be rebuilt. Without the sophisticated emergency infrastructure, response and funding that we enjoy in North America, this will take a long time. All the while, their main economic engine, tourism will be diminished. International aid and support is critical. I hope the hundreds of thousands of people that visit these islands will be generous to the relief effort. The UK government has already pledged that they will match all donations made by the public to the British Red Cross . I donated to them yesterday. I also made myself a promise that when things are rebuilt - I am going back to happy hour on the patio of St Martin Yacht Club, to spend a day in the sun at Shipwreck Beach Bar in St. Kitts, to drink rum at Pussers Landing in Tortola, to enjoy a painkiller at Soggy Dollar Bar in Jost Van Dyke, to drink in the beauty of the Baths in Virgin Gorda and to have a Killer Bee at Sunshines in Nevis.
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