The French president promised residents of St Martin the island will be ‘reborn’ amid accusations that European governments were unprepared for the hurricane

France’s president and the Dutch king have visited Caribbean territories that were hammered by Hurricane Irma, amid accusations by residents that European governments were unprepared, slow to react and sometimes racist in their responses to the devastation.

More than 200 people are still listed as missing on the island shared by the Dutch territory St Maarten and French St Martin, according to the Dutch Red Cross.

Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that 11 people were killed in St Martin, while another four people died on the Dutch side of the island, bringing the death toll in the Caribbean to at least 35.

More than 90% of buildings on the Dutch side of the island were damaged, and a third of the buildings were destroyed, the agency said, adding they would use drones to better assess the damage.

At a press conference in the French territory of Guadeloupe before departing for St Martin, Macron said the government’s “top priority” was to help island residents return to normal life.

“St Martin will be reborn, I promise,” Macron told reporters in Pointe-a-Pitre. “I will shake up all the rules and procedures so the job is done as quickly as possible. It will be done quickly, it will be done well, and it will be done better,” he said.

Macron, who is also facing a day of protests against his labor reforms back in France, denied authorities were too slow to react.

Macron said 50m euros will be made available as soon as possible, and 2,000 security forces have been deployed, including the army, roughly double the original contingent.

The French government has said it would take at least three months for water distribution to normalize. The electricity supply has also been badly hit, authorities said.

But the French, British and Dutch governments have faced fierce criticism for failing to anticipate the disaster and for their sluggish response.

Boris Johnson, the British foreign secretary, also traveled to the Caribbean to visit British territories devastated by Irma. Among the hardest hit islands were the British Virgin Islands, Anguilla, as well as Antigua & Barbuda.

Many on the island were struggling to maintain a semblance of normality.

“There’s no food here. There’s no water here,” said 70-year-old Germania Perez.

Adding to the stress of lack of food and shelter were reports of widespread looting by armed gangs.

'Not fit to live on': Chaos grips Caribbean islands days after Irma's rampage Read more

As night fell on Monday, residents hurried inside, fearful of robbers roaming the streets and of the handful of men walking around yanking chains tied to aggressive dogs.

“We can’t sleep in peace because of the thieves,” said 48-year-old Yovanny Roque.

Across the island, cars lay tossed upside down at 90-degree angles and on top of other cars. Large boats leaned sideways on dry land.



Dutch king Willem-Alexander, who arrived on Monday, said the scenes of devastation he witnessed on St Maarten in the hurricane’s aftermath were the worst he had ever seen.

“I’ve never experienced anything like this before and I’ve seen a lot of natural disasters in my life. I’ve seen a lot of war zones in my life, but I’ve never seen anything like this,” Willem-Alexander said on the Dutch national network NOS.

Still, he said he was encouraged to see residents already working together to rebuild the shattered capital, Philipsburg. He was scheduled to fly later Tuesday to the nearby Dutch islands of Saba and St Eustatius, which also were hit by Irma, but suffered less damage than St Maarten.