At least eight people were killed and 23 injured in French Caribbean island territories, France’s interior minister reported on Twitter. A 2-year-old child was killed in Barbuda, where some 95 percent of the houses suffered serious damage and roughly 60 percent of residents were left homeless, Prime Minister Gaston Browne told The Associated Press. One death was also reported on the island of Anguilla.
With rescue teams just beginning to inspect the battered Caribbean islands, there could be more victims, France’s interior minister said.
On Saint Barthelemy, the damage along the waterfront in Gustavia was extensive. Miami prosecutor Frank Ledee, whose family owns a string of beachfront villas, said the storm wrecked 18-inch walls and blew out doors and windows.
“The damage is astronomical,” said Ledee, who has been communicating with family via U.S. cellphone text messages.
The devastation was even worse in St. Martin, where Ledee’s relatives live and own businesses. Their homes there were destroyed, as was a liquor-distribution warehouse.
“The roof of the building popped off and walls collapsed into the warehouse,” Ledee said. “We ended up with looters.”
His family survived unscathed, but badly shaken. “We took a very bad beating on the islands,” said Ledee, of Broward County.
Princess Juliana International Airport on the Dutch side of St. Martin was pummeled by the storm. Images posted to the Twitter account of an airport webcam site showed a badly damaged airport roof and debris and sand strewn on the tarmac.