 The Bahamas has seen its fair share of devastating hurricanes, and as Floyd, Frances and Jeanne proved we are no strangers to destruction. But any damage sustained by the Bahamas pales in comparison to the destruction Hurricane Ike caused in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
Stepping off of the plane in Grand Turks, the nation’s capital, the damage was immediately seen. Private planes were thrown about the airport grounds adding to the dozens of cars that found thier way in top of one another. This is in addition to the airport having to be completely shut down as most of the roof had been blown away. Residents there are living without, water, clothing, food , shelter and electricity. The majority of the homes on the islands are completely destroyed and those that were spared will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars in repairs.
Gems New Media Network, along with a team of delegates including former US Senator Billy Davis, Senator the Honorable Jerome Fitzgerald, playwright and talk show host, Michael Pintard and former Senator Teresa Moxey Ingraham , travelled to the island on the weekend of September 15 to see the destruction first-hand. They did not go empty handed. The Gems New Media Network formed a charity organization called “Gems and Friends Outreach” that collected food and other grocery items, generators, clothing and much more for the Turks and Caicos relief efforts.
Premier of the Turks and Caicos Islands Michael Missick greeted the group in Providenciales to give a full assessment of the damage. He said not only do the two countries have a close friendship but a close kinship. He thanked the team for their assistance to the islands and said there is still a long way to go. Minster of Home Affairs and Disaster Management, Galmo Willaims says he views the disaster as blessing. Williams says since almost 100 per cent of the homes and power lines have been destroyed, it gives the government an opportunity to redo it anew and do it right. Speaking on behalf of the Gems team, patron of the project Theresa Moxey Ingraham, says Gems and Friends will work in three phases to assist with the disaster relief efforts.
The first phase being donations. We spoke to several residents on the island who lost all of their earthly valuables. But no matter the difference in tangible loss between the residents, they had one thing in common, they will to continue on and not give up. Premier Missick says it will cost hundreds of millions of dollars to get the islands back to where it was. But, he says his goal along with his ministers is to make it better so they next time a hurricane passes through the destruction would not be as great.
Sancheska Brown |
