Lagarde expresses Sympathy to Countries affected by Hurricane Irma

Thu, Sep 7, 2017 | By publisher


Foreign

 

CHRISTINE Lagarde, managing director of the International Monetary Fund, IMF, has sympathised with countries which have been affected by hurricane Irma.

“I would like to express our deep concern and sympathy for the countries affected by Hurricane Irma—one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever. Several islands in the region have already suffered terrible damage from the storm, and others are still in its path. We are very saddened by the reports of lives lost and widespread destruction.

“The Fund stands ready to help its member countries as they deal with the aftermath of this catastrophe including, if needed, financial support from our rapid financing facilities,” Lagarde said in a statement made available to Realnews on Thursday, September 7.

Hurricane Irma is continuing to tear a deadly path through the Caribbean, causing widespread destruction and reducing buildings to rubble, on a track that could lead to a catastrophic strike on Florida.

The American state is bracing for the arrival of the Atlantic’s most deadly storm in history, which has already left at least 10 people dead and thousands homeless. Emergency chiefs warn it will have a “truly devastating” impact on the US, according to the The Telegraph

The United Nations estimates that up to 37 million people could be affected by the category five hurricane, which was sustaining winds of 180mph as it moved off the northern coast of the Dominican Republic on Thursday.

Irma is moving at around 16mph on a course forecast to take it toward Turks and Caicos and the south-eastern Bahamas by Thursday evening – and near the Central Bahamas by Friday. Florida is braced for a possible direct hit from Saturday, with forecasters predicting it could strike the entire Atlantic coast and rage into Georgia and South Carolina.

 

–  Sept. 7, 2017 @ 15:01 GMT |

 

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