Royal Navy: HMS Trent helps British Virgin Islands citizens pick up the pieces after Hurricane Ernesto
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Sailors have been deployed to the British Virgin Islands to carry out disaster relief following a hurricane.
Personnel from the Portsmouth-based ship HMS Trent are in the British Overseas Territory supporting citizens effected by Hurricane Ernesto. Personnel, which included Royal Marines and engineers, assisted with recovery support last week. The tropical storm, then upgraded to a hurricane, hit the territory last Tuesday (August 13).
Pictures shared on the ship’s X account shows personnel clearing trees blown over by the ferocious winds and debris scattered across the ground. Governor of the British Virgin Islands, Daniel Pruce, praised the work of the Royal Navy.
He said: “Tropical Storm Ernesto brought heavy rainfall and severe winds to the British Virgin Islands. I’m extremely grateful to everyone across government who has been working tirelessly on the clean up and recovery operation, and to the entire team from HMS Trent.”
Ernesto was declared as a Category One hurricane last Wednesday as it swept across Puerto Rico and the British Virgin Islands, before blowing towards Bermuda. The storm brought 75 mph winds and up to 10 inches of rain in some areas. As reported in The Independent, 49,000 energy customers were left without power on August 14.
Ernesto is the fifth named storm this year, during what is predicted to be an “extremely active” Atlantic season. Record-high ocean temperatures linked to climate change have been deemed as the cause of the spike in extreme weather.