Saving lives in the Caribbean
The UK has been distributing lifesaving humanitarian supplies to those hit by the category 5 storm, Hurricane Dorian, in The Bahamas. Royal Fleet Auxilary ship (RFA) Mounts Bay is at the heart of the operation.
The category 5 storm has had a huge impact in the Caribbean. The devastating impact has resulted in the loss of life, missing persons and communities ripped apart. There is no power or running water.
Since its arrival in the Bahamas, RFA Mounts Bay has done the following;
- Royal Navy Wildcat Helicopter crew have rescued three children and a British citizen, who were trapped beneath rubble for several days.
- Royal Navy Medics have treated those injured in the aftermath of the Hurricane.
- Royal Marines have helped start rebuilding the communities worst affected by the hurricane.
- DfID relief aid including — shelter kits; Hygiene kits; food; bottles of water and Tetanus medication — has been distributed those most affected.
RFA Mounts Bay, who has been on standby since June, deployed a dedicated Humanitarian and Disaster Relief team to the Bahamas to join up with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force. They have been distributing Department for International Development relief aid including; shelter kits; Hygiene kits; food; bottles of water and Tetanus medication.
Mounts Bay is also carrying specialist equipment, such as all-terrain quads, dump trucks, diggers and stores — vital in clearing debris to deliver aid and for rebuilding the community following the storm.
Troops from the ship’s specialist Humanitarian Aid and Disaster Relief (HADR) detachment, were aboard to provide brains, brawn and expertise in the aftermath of the hurricane — such as restoring power and water supplies.
Equipped with a Wildcat helicopter, Mounts Bay has been conducting reconnaissance flights over the islands to assess the damage and provide important intelligence to the Bahamian government and the team of DfID experts who have deployed to the region.
The Wildcat onboard has delivered several medical supplies to Marsh Harbour Clinic, it has flown for almost 50 hours and delivered over 7000kg of aid.
More significantly, while flying over Great Abaco Island to assess the damage, the crew onboard were suddenly requested to evacuate a casualty from Elbow Cay. The Royal Navy crew rescued three children and a British citizen, who were trapped beneath rubble for several days after Dorian struck.
The UK Armed Forces are continuing to support those in most affected in the Caribbean, helping to rebuild the communities.
The amphibious support vessel has been on a three-year mission to reassure inhabitants of British territories in the Caribbean, tackle drug trafficking and provide assistance in the wake of a devastating tropical storm or volcanic eruption. Mounts Bay was then quickly re-tasked to sail to The Bahamas in anticipation of Hurricane Dorian, the strongest ever recorded in The Bahamas.
The Navy has been linked up with forces from across the Americas for Exercise Tradewinds.
Exercise Tradewinds (TW19) is the annual Caribbean, multi-national, exercise which includes elements of ground security and interagency focused tasking, supporting the US Southern Command.
For her part in Tradewinds, Mounts Bay worked with nine nations from the Americas and Caribbean — Dominican Republic, Haiti, Canada, USA, Guyana, Jamaica, and Mexico, Bermuda, Barbados — for the annual test of dealing with a series of potential problems in the Central America/Caribbean region, everything from disaster relief (highly likely) to countering drug runners and smugglers (a constant threat) and terrorist attacks (always possible).
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