simple terms when the dutch were talking about the local st. martin government. they said there is very little functioning government here. because they were badly affected, they can t work out of their government hoe. they re working out of an emergency fire house. that just tells you the scale of what they ve got to do and we are seven days in now. heart breaking. finally some attention and aid coming their way. live for us in h st. martin. look at the folks in st. john and st. thomas and u.s. virgin islands. you ve been hearing them say we re going to die out here. they re very concerned. lot of people there, no food in some cases, no water. the image of not a leaf on a tree, brown everywhere. 10 minutes past the hour. could the wealthiest americans see their taxes go up? the president suddenly says the rich might have to pay more. more next. horseheadswivellychair.com
big island from the virgin islands. kenny chess mick has been a resident there for years. he wasn t there at the time the island hit. 17 of his friends were riding out the storm in his house, they survived. with his help they were able to get off the island. he s determined to get as much attention to the u.s. virgin islands, to st. john and st. thomas and the needs of the island. one of his friends who wrote out the storm of his house, kate henna who just got out today. kenny, you love st. john, you got a place there and been there for a long time, whether you see the images of what happened there what goes through your mind? it s a lot of heart break, anderson. it s really just so many emotions running through my head
d.c. u.s. virgin islands are known primarily for being absolutely gorgeous. they re known for their white pris scene beaches, their old world castles and architecture, their incredible culture and incredible art and museums, incredible food. a really rich storied culture. and right now the u.s. virgin islands are really, really hurting. two of those three big islands, st. john and st. thomas, just got completely walloped by this murk. hurricane. st. thomas has one hospital and that hospital has been destroyed. one resident in st. thomas told npr today that the hospital suffered a catastrophic failure during the storm. patients from that hospital in st. thomas had to be evacuated to hospitals in puerto rico and also to st. croix. large parts of the u.s. virgin islands have no running water, no power, no cell service. the lack of water alone can be a serious humanitarian crisis when it goes on for more than a
loved ones will see it and people have a way to know their loved ones are still alive. at least four people died in the virgin i lands. that number could rise. officials are telling residents it could be months before power is restored and that st. john and st. thomas are not safe at this point. now that this hurricane devastated big parts of the u.s. virgin islands, it is america s problem now. it s up to us as a country to fix it. the u.s. is not there by mistake. the u.s. virgin islands doesn t have its own president. the people this live there are u.s. citizens subject to u.s. law and part of the united states. just like any other state or territory that makes up this country. which means even though we have been slow to get reports out of the u.s. virgin islands, now that we re getting them, we re recognizing what we need to do. this is our american humanitarian crisis. our american citizens without food and water and power and
gone, most of the structures basically washed away, it becomes a military operation. we re talking about groups in st. john up to 50 people huddled in houses with month roofs on it, so we re trying to get tarps to those people. the military is making that effort. 70% of the island s police force had their houses destroyed. so the infrastructure of the local authorities has now slowly disappeared, and what you have is a continuing road to a kind of lulless situations on this main island. the main hospital which serves both st. john and st. thomas was destroyed. all of this adds up to the virgin islands governor saying, quote, we need to manage expectations, stephanie. that s how bad it is there. ai it s a structural problem, cal. there are people struggling for food, all the things we just described for florida where there are housing issues, food