Hello everyone,
 
I am a BVI lawyer and lived in those beautiful islands for a number of years.  I am writing this in a personal capacity, as I still have a lot of friends, colleagues and acquaintances over there and the islands are in bad shape.  

I am sure you may know, but the BVI just got hit by a Category 5 hurricane.  The BVI was right in the centre of hurricane Irma and was pounded by winds of up to 185 mph.  A lot of people lost their homes, their livelihoods and, in some cases, their lives.  These are ordinary hard working people.  Contrary to the popular idea of the BVI, in the main, the BVIslanders don't have very much, and what little they do have has now been washed away by the wind and the seas.
 
The people are trapped on island, with no electricity, no running water, limited communications, little food, medicine, baby powder and all the other things we take for granted.  Another hurricane, Jose, is on the way.  It is a major hurricane and may hit in a few days.  When the next hurricane comes, a lot of people will not have shelter.  The airport is severely damaged and there is currently no way of flying in supplies or flying people out by plane.
 
We in the legal community have lots of links with the BVI.  Some of us work there, some of us have friends who relocated there, or who worked there, many of us work on BVI deals in the litigation, funds, finance and corporate space.  Many of our leading QCs go to the BVI to make submissions before the Court.  The damage to peoples lives in the Caribbean will therefore have some impact on us all in one way or other, even if remotely.
 
Could I therefore kindly ask fellow RoFers and readers to consider helping out in any way possible, whether by way of financial donations, or simply by lobbying their friends in Government, charities, churches, or other well meaning institutions, to do all that they can to assist.
 
I would expect the BVI Government to organise an official donation source in the next few days, but in the meantime can I advise that people wait for official channels and do not donate through unofficial or impromptu sources.  Unfortunately, it is a sad reality that a lot of scammers operate these days, so we have to be cautious.  I will aim to update this post with details, once the BVI Govt confirms how we can best assist through proper and appropriate channels.
 
If you need more information, there is a public BVI Facebook community group (BVI Abroad - Hurricane Irma) that is constantly being updated with information as to missing people, aid and assistance, and news.  The various law firms and other professional service firms on the island are also active in keeping track of their staff and updating interested people.  Updates are also available from the BVI Government and local publications, such as the BVI Beacon, BVI Platinum and Virgin Islands News Online, although a couple of news outlets are currently offline.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

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Comments

Anonymous 08 September 17 15:17

Please do let us know how best to donate/ help as soon as you know. The first photos of the damage look terrible - it must have been an absolutely terrifying experience to go through. You are all very much in our thoughts.

Anonymous 11 September 17 05:42

Just to update the above, I have been informed that the BVI London Office has set up the following funding channel:

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/bvi-touristboardhurricaneirma

And Richard Branson has also set up a fund on his site:

https://www.virgin.com/unite/bvi-community-support-appeal

Thanks all.