Sometimes in the midst of tragedy and disasters we need small moments to smile.
Up early to check on Caribbean hurricane reports — especially from Cuba, I saw this story:
From The Independent
Havana, Cuba | AFP | A helicopter has lifted six dolphins to safety from an aquarium on a Cuban islet threatened by the approach of Hurricane Irma, Cuban authorities said Friday.
Wrapped in moist towels, the six male dolphins from the “Cable Esqui” center on Cayo Guillermo were placed on foam mattresses in a helicopter on Thursday and flown to the southwestern province of Cienfuego, away from the storm, the state ACN news agency said.
“For the moment, they are in a pool that offers similar living conditions and if the weather doesn’t allow them to be kept there, they will be moved to a salt water pool at a hotel,” said Gonzalo Carrero Escobar, the head of the aquarium.
Patrick Oppmann reporting from Cuba
Meanwhile Trump extends the embargo:
More tweets below the fold
In Antigua — the focus is now on Jose
Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands
From the story
After wreaking havoc in the Leeward Islands, the hurricane scooted just north of Puerto Rico, sparing it the most catastrophic damage. While St. Croix, one of three islands that make up the US Virgin Islands, experienced only minor damage, the storm hit sister islands St. John and St. Thomas head on, destroying nearly everything its wake. While the cleanup effort begins, many residents of these US territories say one of the challenges of storm relief is not just the devastation, but neglect from the continental US.
“We’re always feeling like second-class citizens. They just skip over us and it hurts,” says Stephanie Brown, a local reporter on the island of St. Croix. Between press conferences and reporting, she’s fielding messages from frantic Virgin Islanders in the continental US and abroad, desperately seeking updates from the ground or word about a missing relative.
“Social media has been the basis for much of everyone’s information gathering,” she adds.
Puerto Ricans and US Virgin Islanders are American citizens by birth, pay taxes and are overrepresented in the military. Still, coverage of these territories is often reduced to natural disasters like Irma, carnival in St. Thomas and Puerto Rico’s financial crisis. Even during hurricanes, the plight of these islands is often overshadowed by events in Florida, Cuba, Haiti or the Dominican Republic.
BVI
Please post any Caribbean news, updates you have to comments.