Violence on Caribbean Islands as Food Gone, Looters Run Wild

Violence on the Caribbean Islands has erupted in the wake of Hurricane Irma, with food gone and looters running wild, officials noted.

This follows reports of severe food and water shortages as well as the absence of power and phone services on the island of St. Martin.

"All the food is gone now," Jacques Charbonnier, a 63-year-old resident of St. Martin, told The New York Times. "People are fighting in the streets for what is left."

Last week Irma knocked out power and communication lines on St. Martin and forced the island’s only airport to shut down for the next week.

The Times noted that 90 percent of the buildings on some islands had been levelled and, in the face of desperation, the social fabric in some communities had begun to disintegrate.

A local newspaper publisher, Paul De Windt, confirmed there had been looting and, while some people were stealing luxury goods, most were grabbing water and biscuits.

Meanwhile a Californian pathologist, Lachlan Macleay, who visited Antigua with his wife, sent a message to a colleague describing the scene, according to The Wall Street Journal.

"Military is trying to control chaos but nothing is safe after dark, lots of looting," Dr. Macleay wrote. "I was on patrol last night with machete until sun came up."

Reuters noted that police presence on Saint Martin and Saint Barthelemy had been boosted to almost 500 members amid emerging reports of violence and looting on the two islands.

It was further reported that 11 people had been arrested since Friday on accounts of "malicious actions."

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