Landfall: My experiences of responding to Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean with Team Rubicon
In September 2017, I flew out to the Caribbean at short notice to respond to the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, a catastrophic Category 5 hurricane that struck the Caribbean and south-eastern United States.
It was one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes ever recorded, with sustained winds of up to 185 mph (295 km/h) that caused widespread damage and devastation.
Only just back from 2 weeks volunteering in the Philippines with Team Rubicon UK, my bags were still packed and it made sense to just head out and figure out whatever I needed to on the way.
Image credit: Haus of Hiatus
The hurricane first made landfall in the Caribbean, affecting several islands including Antigua and Barbuda, Saint Martin, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. The hurricane caused significant damage to buildings, infrastructure, and natural resources, and resulted in hundreds of deaths and billions of dollars in damages.
Together with close friend, Joe a former Royal Marine who had lost his lower leg after being shot on operations, we flew to the Caribbean as part of a short notice vanguard team of Serve on and Team Rubicon, to facilitate the smooth deployment of a larger group of volunteers that were still being organised and prepared. Embedded in the Joint Force Headquarters in Barbados - we were the voice of TRUK and conducted liaison and engagement with the British military taskforce that included a contingent of Royal Marines from 40 Commando that had been deployed to support the response.
Whilst I had only got back from the Philippines with the charity, I knew that I was one of the few that could be ready and had the ability to quickly understand the environment and communicate the risks to the charity’s senior leadership – thereby helping to shape a successful response. Ensuring the volunteers had the correct expectations and knowledge of the contingency plan meant they were able to work effectively, was hugely important to the overall response.
Location 1: Antigua
We fly into Antigua first, landing at a rather deserted VC Bird International Airport. Antigua together with neighbouring Barbuda is a small, two-island country located in the Eastern Caribbean that’s been on my adventure radar for a little while thanks to the Talisker Whiskey Atlantic Challenge (TWAC), a 3000-mile rowing race that finishes on the island in January and February.
A friend of the charity had donated the use of their house for our small team to get organised and figure out how to get into a complex disaster zone that was spread across countless small islands that couldn’t sustain sea travel, we would have to deliver utility without becoming a problem ourselves. Thankfully with an abundance of operational experience in our small team of 6 that was not a problem.
Within 12 hours or so, we’d all got our various tasks on how we’re going to help shape this response and started to shape our movement.
Antigua hadn’t been hit as badly as the other Caribbean islands and so moving around it and sustaining ourselves was relatively easy, but we hadn’t come for a holiday and so got to work quickly building relationships to understand where the needs were.
Antigua - Image credit: Haus of Hiatus
Seeing the devastation on Barbuda
We’d deployed with a drone operator (aka Unmanned Aerial Vehicle - UAV), Ellie, and so the authorities asked us to join a flight out to Barbuda in a bid to survey the damage and situation. The island has been evacuated, and so we have to pack on the understanding that we may not be getting off the island if they helicopter can’t fly for whatever reason. In my consulting life, I was working with media companies helping them plan and manage risk of productions, and so I was there to enact a contingency, so that Ellie coul concentrate on surveying the magnitude of the damage and communicating it to decision makers to aid planning.
The island was completely decimated, all the houses had been destroyed and there were now packs of wild animals such as goats and dogs living on the islands. Seeing the extend of the damage was really sad, yet we’re told that miraculously no one died in the storm, everyone was evacuated before it made landfall.
Next stop, Barbados
We’re limited in our capacity to help in Antigua and so we’re able to get one of the few flights available over to Barbados. I land at Grantley Adams international airport, and we get a lift to Bridgetown, the capital city of Barbados.
Op RUMEN
The UK has deployed a military contingent here formed around a Royal Navy task group, that includes as company of Royal Marines from 40 Commando – my first unit after finishing fifteen and a half months of Young Officers training back in 2010. I’m grateful to be hanging out with some old mates again and getting some really useful information on the state of the other islands whilst also having a seat at the table for briefings with the senior British military officers and civil servants in charge of the UK’s response.
I make a mental note that it’s reassuring to be around people that speak a similar level of jargon when it comes to uncertainty and chaos of a disaster zone, and hope that the other NGOs appreciate our ability to translate this quick flurry of information into something that they can use as well.
By now, Joe and I are busy rushing around trying to find resources and somewhere our bigger main group of volunteers can sleep for a few nights before they’re transported into the various different parts of operational area based on what their skills are and the needs of the locations.
We successfully manage to get them everything they need and brief them as to what is happening across the entire space. It’s exciting and nerve-wracking in equal measures as they come in being led by good friend and fellow former officer, Nick.
Moving to the epicentre in the British Virgin Islands
Next, we fly into Terrance B. Letsome international airport on Beef Island (a small island that’s connected by road to Tortola) on a packed C130 Hercules military aircraft with UK military personnel and NGOs.
The island has been hit really hard, and is in a state of panic still, and a little tense. It’s made even more challenging by the fact the ‘crash crew’ (the fire fighters who’re on standby should an aircraft burst into flames for whatever reason), aren’t here as they are helping their families to recover from the disaster, and so being extracted by flight out is very uncertain.
We travel to Roadtown and overnight further in the island to survey the damage and needs. A second large hurricane, Jose, is gathering steam and it’s looking like it could also strike the region so we need to know we can get our volunteers to safety if it’s needed.
As a small group of roving information gatherers for the charity’s decision makers, we’ve collected enough information to share with the headquarters and so out stay on the island is relatively short – just under 48 hours
Back to Barbados
We fly back to Barbados so that we can attend coordination meetings with the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) as the Team Rubicon UK representative, to understand what the pain points are for the other responding agencies are, where there might be economies of scale by pooling our resources and engaging the network that’s quickly grown here.
I can also report what our response teams are seeing and hearing on the ground to quickly develop the operational picture for everyone else involved, thanks in part to the number of responders we’ve got deployed and their engagement with the British military units that are on the ground.
We’re in daily contact with Vodafone foundation who’re setting up an interim communications network, Virgin, British Airways and many other charitable foundations to get the region back online to prepare for if hurricane Jose strikes as it may well do.
By now, I’ve been living out of a small bag for a month and it’s starting to show. I’ve been preparing to row across the Atlantic for the charity for the last 4 months and so am ready to get back to the UK when Dr Imogen Napper flies out to take over the liaison tasks at the daily CDEMA meetings. It’s hard to let go, but I know I’m exhausted and not working at my best, so it’s time for fresh volunteers to come out and keep up the pressure to get aid to those affected by this terrible event.
