Repatriation starts for Irma-affected Pinoys in Caribbean

The repatriation of Filipinos affected by Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean has started, with 90 of them arriving in Puerto Rico on their way to the Philippines on Monday.

On board Air Sunshine flights, the Filipinos arrived at San Juan Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport about 11 a.m. and were met by Consul Katrina Borja-Martin, secretariat head of the crisis management team from the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC.

Most of the Filipinos were able to carry only clothes as they sought repatriation following Irma, considered one of the most powerful Atlantic storms on record.

Twenty-two more Filipinos are expected to arrive in Puerto Rico on Tuesday.

According to the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), over 200 Filipinos in several islands in the Caribbean that were devastated by Hurricane Irma have asked to be repatriated.

The Philippine Embassy in the US has already sent response teams to the British Virgin Islands where there are some 140 affected Filipinos.

Irma ravaged several islands in the northern Caribbean, killing at least 43 people. It barreled into the Florida Keys where 90 percent of homes are believed to be demolished or heavily damaged. —KBK, GMA News