Admin l Wednesday, September 13, 2017
WASHINGTON, United States – First Lady of the United States of America, Malania Trump will on Thursday head to the coastal state of Florida to assess the level devastation by Hurricane Harvey and Irma.
She tweeted her heart continues to be with all those impacted by hurricanes in Florida.
“My concern continues for all impacted by the hurricanes.Will fly to #Florida on Thursday w @potus to survey the damages from #HurricaneIrma”, she tweeted.
At a press conference in Washington, Spokesman Department of State, Heather Nauert extended condolences to all of those who have lost loved ones and to the communities who have been affected by Hurricane Irma.
“We’d like to thank our international partners in the region for working with us to deliver disaster assistance and humanitarian relief to those affected by the storm. Since Friday, more than 2,000 individuals have been evacuated from Sint Maarten, including more than 300 people evacuated by Royal Caribbean cruise line and 1,700 by U.S. military air transport. We’re grateful to our colleagues at the Department of Defense for their nonstop support in this effort”, he said
According to him, evacuation flights from Sint Maarten resumed on Tuesday to San Juan, Puerto Rico, addding that government is planning an evacuation flight from Tortola, that’s British Virgin Isles, the Beef Island Airport, to San Juan later today.
“We’ve used email, phone calls, social media, radio announcements and the warden system to get the word out. And I’d like to thank all of you for helping us to get the word out. We’ve gotten the word out – you all have as well – to Americans who have been traveling overseas and have assisted them through that in helping to get transportation back here to the United States. So I just wanted to extend our thanks for that.
“Our embassies in the Bahamas, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Barbados, as well as the United States Consulate General in Curacao are now open. Many staff from the posts are involved in Hurricane Irma relief efforts, so our routine consular services are limited at this time. The U.S. Embassy in Havana and the surrounding area suffered extensive flood damage. U.S. citizens in Cuba in need of assistance should contact our embassy by telephone. Our staff is providing emergency consular services to U.S. citizens.
“As we help U.S. citizens, USAID has teams on the ground in hard-hit areas of St. Martin, in Antigua, Barbuda, the Bahamas, leading the United States disaster response efforts. Some of the areas have limited access to safe drinking water, and homes have been destroyed following the devastation of Hurricane Irma. The supplies USAID will provide will help prevent the spread of disease through hygiene kits and will provide shelter and blankets to the affected communities.
” Flights for Wednesday, September the 13th out of Sint Maarten, on the Dutch side I’m referring to, will be limited. We do not anticipate U.S. Government flights after Wednesday. That is important to note. We don’t anticipate any flights after Wednesday. Flights will be boarded on a first-come, first-serve basis. U.S. citizens are advised to arrive at the airport as early as is safe to do so. We discourage U.S. citizens from traveling in the dark. Please do bring your passport and travel documents to the airport if you have them. U.S. citizens may still proceed to the airport for processing if you no longer have your documents”.
