The four black women who were stranded on the island of St. Maarten following the devastation of Hurricane Irma have been safely evacuated to Puerto Rico.
Tiffany Bender, one of the four, shared an update on her Instagram page.
“Thank you for your prayers, calls, emails, post[s] and love,” the post read. “The girls have been evacuated to Puerto Rico where they are awaiting their next phase of emergency transport.”
Friends and family of the women took immediate action by turning to social media for help as Hurricane Jose, a category four, was still making its way towards the already devastated St. Maarten.
The women had been on vacation to celebrate 10 years of friendship. Bender told CBS News that their Airbnb hosts “told us to cross our fingers when we asked her about the best practices for the storm.”
With 95 percent of island destroyed, as per an official, the likelihood of looting and assault was high. They had to go seek shelter at the American University of the Caribbean where they had been allowed to stay for one night before being evacuated.
On her Twitter page, Bender acknowledged she was on the way home and also thanked T-Mobile for providing her the service to connect with her family:
As for the #SaveMaarten hashtag, it appears the ladies plan to use it to further help the affected island. Bender wrote: “Now, more than ever – the affected island can use our support in the next stages of rebuilding.”
We are glad the woman were safely evacuated. We can’t wait to hear when they are reunited with their families.