In the aftermath of the passing of Hurricane José across Cuba, and after Irma made landfall on the coast of Florida, the Foreign Ministry continued coordinating Italy’s entire diplomatic and consular network in the region, providing information, assistance and outlining the possible future crisis response scenarios.
The Italian Consulate General in Miami remains operative and, in these last few hours, it has continued to provide Italians in Florida with support and instructions to reach safety.
As for the situation in the British Virgin Islands, all the information available on the presence of Italian tourists in the area is being transmitted to the Authorities of the United Kingdom which are coordinating emergency relief operations on their overseas territories.
In Cuba, the passing of Hurricane José has provoked sizable damage and extended blackouts, although, for the time being, there are no reports of victims or injuries among Italians. The Italian Embassy in Havana is mobilised to provide assistance to the tourists present on the island, in the prospect of gradually resuming services and connections, including national and international flights, which have been suspended for the whole day.
As for the situation in the French and Netherlands Antilles, contacts are constant with the French and Dutch authorities engaged in assuring public order and coordinating the dispatch of emergency relief supplies in their respective territories.
Up to now, there are no reports of Italian victims.
In the light of the damage suffered and of the priority given to assuring relief supplies and to providing assistance to casualties, the airports on the Island of St. Martin are closed to commercial air traffic and, for the time being, no European Country has been authorised access with its own means or aid.
The Foreign Ministry’s Crisis Unit, in coordination with our diplomatic delegations in Paris and The Hague, continues to ask local Authorities to provide all possible assistance to Italian tourists in difficulty as, for now, they are not allowed to leave the area.
The instructions for Italian tourists remains to stay in safe places stocked with supplies or to go to local assistance centres. The Ministry will provide further instructions and support as soon as there is news of the reopening of the facilities from which to exit the island, both ports and airports.
In order to make everything as ready as possible for providing assistance in later phases, two “operating units” have been activated in Curacao, in the Netherlands Antilles, and in Guadalupe, in the French Antilles.
