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SALT LAKE CITY — Utahns are among hundreds of thousands in the Caribbean who, after dealing with Hurricane Irma’s destruction, now find themselves facing Hurricane Jose.
For Utah resident Dave Nelson, who arrived with his wife on the island of St. Martin to visit family last Friday for a weeklong vacation, the trip went from paradise to nightmare.
Nelson was visiting his brother-in-law, Benjamin Zenger, who has been attending the American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine in St. Martin. Zenger, his wife and their daughter have lived on the island for the past year. This past week, their home and car were destroyed by Irma’s 185 mph winds. The two families were unharmed by the hurricane this week but were devastated to see what it destroyed.
“The trees don’t have any leaves and the mountain is now brown, not green,” Zenger said. “It’s a mixture between that and, like, a bomb went off.”
Island government officials reported 10 people killed on the island and at least 50 injured.
The two couples tried to get a flight out before Hurricane Jose was set to hit but were unsuccessful.
“The airport is gutted,” Nelson said. “(The winds) blew out all the windows. There’s a metal facade that was on the building but that is now spread out all over the parking lot, which is also under a foot of water.”
"We are hopeful we can get off this island. And we don’t have to live with it, but there are so many people that have to.” - Dave Nelson
The families went back to the medical school’s campus to seek shelter in a building built to withstand hurricane winds. The school has been serving them hot meals even though there are concerns about supplies on the island, Nelson said. And with looting being reported as a result of the destruction, officials have put a mandatory curfew in place, he added.
The families plan to wait at the medical school Friday night into Saturday morning — along with 10 other Utahns who also have family enrolled in the school — as the storm passes.
Nelson said they were confident they would all be safe.
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Irma bears down on Florida; more than 5 million told to flee coast
Irma trained its sights on Florida and officials warned more than 5 million people that time was running out Friday and ordered them to evacuate ahead of the deadly hurricane as it followed a path that could take it from one end of the state to the other.“Since we’ve experienced it one time, I think we know what to expect and we are hoping it’s not as catastrophic,” he said. “We’re just hoping that this small island can survive it.”
The couples said their main concern was for the thousands who call the island home.
“We are hopeful we can get off this island. And we don’t have to live with it, but there are so many people that have to,” Nelson said.
The Utahns hope to fly out as soon as possible and believe they will get a better idea of when that will be after Hurricane Jose passes Saturday morning.
