Homeless and stuck in Saint-Martin

Photo AFP
A man carries a bag of groceries through the streets destroyed the town of Marigot, on the island of Saint-Martin, where at least 11 people have lost their lives during the passage of hurricane Irma, who has destroyed almost the entire island.

Anne Caroline Desplanques

Saturday, 9 September, 2017 00:02

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Saturday, 9 September, 2017 00:02

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Relatives of Quebecers stuck in Saint-Martin accuse Ottawa of abandoning its nationals in the disaster left by Irma.

“The ministry of foreign Affairs told me that he would put the record of my sister in urgent need, but they will not intervene on the spot “, growls Olivier Dionne.

His sister Melissa Friedmann, a Montrealer who lives in Saint-Martin with her husband Cyril and their two girls of 4 and 10 years, no longer has a roof.

Mr. Dionne moves heaven and earth for Ottawa to come to their assistance, but it faces a wall.

Same thing for Robert Dutrizac, whose son Antoine survived Irma in the flooded basement of a hotel with his wife Geneviève Brière.

The family of the young woman indicates that Ottawa has referred to the airlines rather than send aid.

“This is rubbish, storm, Mr. Dutrizac. There is more to the airport. You can’t rely on the airlines. It is inconceivable. “

His son Antoine and his girlfriend had bought a return ticket in the hope of leaving the island before the hurricane, but their plane could not take off. Today they are refugees in a server of the hotel, the Dutch side of the island.

The Situation is alarming

“They are desperate. There is no water, no electricity, soon we will not be able to communicate with them because they will no longer have a battery, ” says Mr. Dutrizac.

With the approach of hurricane Jose, Mr. Dionne fears the worst : “95 % of the island is destroyed. There is the looting, the situation is alarming. How will they protect themselves from Jose ? “

To leave their loved ones out of this hell, the three quebec families have completed the forms required by the federal department of foreign Affairs in order to ensure that they are contactable, but all their efforts remain without result.

“There is no canadian authority which has communicated with my son and his girlfriend in two days,” insisted Mr. Dutrizac.

“One welcomes here people from all over, it is wonderful. But it was nationals in danger in Saint-Martin and we will not go looking for them. I would like to understand why, ” critique of Mr. Dionne.

In 2006, Ottawa had requisitioned ships to go to help Canadians in danger during the war in Lebanon. “I do not understand that there, we don’t do “, critical, he said.

The French army has released yesterday the track of the airport of Grand Case to allow military aircraft to begin medical evacuations, say the authorities. The sick and wounded are evacuated on a priority basis to Pointe-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe.