Caribbean Airlines is now offering rebooking fee waivers to travelers whose plans have been affected by Hurricane Irma.

Travelers who have confirmed tickets for the period between Sept. 5 and Oct. 31 can now rebook without change fees.

The carrier is also offering full refunds on fares paid for travel up to Oct. 31.

The waivers apply to travel to or from Miami, Orlando, Fort Lauderdale, Antigua, St Maarten and Nassau.

— Caribbean Journal staff

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

Hurricane Irma caused “devastating” destruction in the British Virgin Islands when it hit the territory, the BVI’s Tourist Board said in a statement.

“The destruction caused by Hurricane Irma in the British Virgin Islands has been devastating. With cell phone towers down and power outages, it has been difficult to receive communication from within the territory, and to fully assess the damage,” said British Virgin Islands Director of Tourism Sharon Flax-Brutus. The destination has lost entire structures and many homes are without roofs, or have been diminished to merely foundations. Sadly, there may have been fatalities in the territory, but there are none confirmed at this time as we are still in the assessment process, which has been a challenge due to lack of communication.”

The government has begun coordinating humanitarian relief efforts and an initial clean-up operation.

Additionally, the United Kingdom government is sending Royal Navy Flagship HMS Ocean to offer relief and support.

The BVI said it was also watching Hurricane Jose, a Category 3 storm that is slated to reach the area over the weekend.

“We are doing our best to make sure people in the BVI are making safety a priority,” the BVI said.

Those looking to make donations can send them to the BVI Recovery Fund.

“We want to thank everyone for the outpouring of support for the BVI community,” Flax-Brutus said. “The people of the British Virgin Islands are resilient and we are confident we will be able to rebuild.”

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

Hurricane Irma continues to move to the northwest as a Category 5 storm.

The storm moved from the island of Hispaniola to the Turks and Caicos before heading toward the southeastern Bahamas early Friday morning.

As of 11 PM on Thursday, the storm was about 55 miles east-northeast of Great Inagua Island in the Bahamas.

Irma pummeled Turks and Caicos after causing an undetermined amount of damage and flooding in Haiti, with the brunt of the damage focused in Grand Turk.

The core of the hurricane is then projected to move between the north coast of Cuba and the Bahamas during the next day or two.

Hurricane warnings remained in effect for Haiti from the northern border with the Dominican Republic to Le Moin st Nicholas, the Southeastern Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Central Bahamas, the Northwestern Bahamas and the Cuban provinces of Camaguey, Ciego de Avila, Sancti Spiritus and Villa Clara.

Irma’s maximum sustained winds slowed slightly, down from a peak of 185 mph to 165 mph with higher gusts, though it remained a Category 5 hurricane.

“Some fluctuations in intensity are likely during the next day or two, but Irma is forecast to remain a powerful category 4 or 5 hurricane during the next couple of days,” the NOAA said in a statement.

The Caribbean death toll from the storm has risen to at least 14 people.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

Hurricane Irma made landfall in the Caribbean Wednesday, causing major destruction on several islands, including tiny Barbuda, which was almost totally destroyed.

As of Wednesday evening, Irma was 315 miles east-southeast of Grand Turks island in the Turks and Caicos, with continued maximum sustained winds of 185 miles per hour.

As Irma moved north-northwest, a hurricane warning remained in effect for Puerto Rico, Vieques and Culebra, along with the Dominican Republic from Cabo Engano to the border with Haiti, Haiti from its northern border with the DR to Le Mole St Nicholas, the Southeastern Bahamas and Turks and Caicos Islands and the Central Bahamas.

A hurricane watch was in effect for the northwestern Bahamas and for Cuba from the Matanzas province eastward toward Guantanamo.

Irma was tracking to move just north of Puerto Rico on Wednesday evening and pass near or just north of the coast of Hispaniola on Thursday, nearing the Turks and Caicos and southeastern Bahamas by Thursday evening.

Wednesday saw Irma pummel islands including Barbuda, St Barth, St Martin, Anguilla, the British Virgin Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands before making landfall in Puerto Rico, which left hundreds of thousands without electricity.

St Martin’s famous Grand Case boulevard was devastated by Irma.

The next few days will reveal more about the extent of the damage around the northern Caribbean, though Barbuda was hit the hardest by the eye of the storm.

Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said Barbuda was in “national disaster,” with nearly 90 percent of both vehicles and homes on the island totally destroyed.

The island, which has a population of less than 1,700 people, reportedly saw one death from the storm.

The post Irma Continues Westward After Battering Barbuda, St Martin appeared first on Caribbean Journal.

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By the Caribbean Journal staff

The Category-5 Hurricane Irma pummeled the dual-nation island of St Martin/St Maarten and nearby St Barth on Wednesday, leaving massive flooding and widespread destruction.

The storm caused the deaths of at least two people, confirmed by French President Emmanuel Macron, who said the damage would be “harsh and cruel.”

“Structural damage on the two islands is considerable,” he said.

The damage at Princess Juliana Airport.

Crucially, the storm also devastated the Dutch side’s Princess Juliana International Airport, a major hub for the wider Caribbean region, though the extent of the damage was not yet clear.

Whoa. This is the havoc of Hurricane Irma on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.pic.twitter.com/Eh7mRdPkiJ

— Mikel Jollett (@Mikel_Jollett) September 6, 2017

Macron said his government was mobilizing a total response to the disaster, setting up an emergency fund and beginning to implement a reconstruction plan.

French Overseas Minister Annick Girardin will visit Thursday to assess and bring resources to the island.

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