A family is thankful and relieved to be on the U.S. mainland after Fair Wind Air Charter flew them out of St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands to Palm Beach County following Hurricane Irma.
“A bunch of good hearts, that’s how we made it here today,” said Yaniris Didier, who has called St. Thomas home for more than 20 years.
She said the destruction was endless.
“My sister’s house, the roof is gone,” Didier said. “My friends, some of their houses are gone completely.”
Didier said her house remained standing, but it flooded, and the situation on the island continues to worsen.
“The island is devastated. No light. No water. No food,” she said. “We need all the help that we can get.”
Meanwhile, Fair Wind Air Charter based in Stuart was planning a flight down to the U.S. Virgin Islands to bring police officers there to help with the relief mission, said Ike Crumpler, the media relations specialist for Fair Wind Air Charter.
The executive director of the Hobe Sound Chamber of Commerce, Angela Hoffman, knows Andrew Cross, who works at the Ritz Carlton in St. Thomas, Crumpler said.
That led her to contact Fair Wind Air Charter about the possibility of getting families out of the island.
Fair Wind Air Charter agreed to bring back people seeking refuge after dropping off police officers, Crumpler said.
Didier works at the Ritz Carlton in St. Thomas with Cross, who decided to let Didier, her 19-year-old and 5-year-old daughters and 8-year-old son fly back with Fair Wind.
“The plane was supposed to come for him, but he gave his seat for my family,” Didier said as she held back tears.
The Hobe Sound Chamber of Commerce also put out a message to the community prior to the flight about supplies needed in St. Thomas that Fair Wind Air Charter could also bring down.
People filled up the Fair Wind lobby with donations that were then loaded up and flown to St. Thomas Sunday morning, Crumpler said.
Didier's family flew to New Jersey Sunday night from PBIA to stay with her son. She said she plans to put her young children in school there because she doesn't know how long it will take for schools to reopen in St. Thomas.
