Hurricane Irma: UAE offers helping hand to US

Dubai - UAE to dispatch a special aircraft to help evacuate Emiratis from Florida before Hurricane Irma hits the place.

The UAE government, a close friend of US, had stood by with its ally and provided assistance whenever the US has been affected by natural disasters such as hurricanes and tornadoes.

His Highness Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, on Thursday ordered to dispatch a special aircraft to help evacuate Emiratis from Florida before Hurricane Irma hits the place.
Mohamed bin Zayed also ordered to provide all help to Emirati citizens in Florida.


Read: Dubai sends Dh712,500 emergency airlift to Haiti
Aiding recovery and reconstruction efforts is consistent with the UAE's long-standing track record of philanthropy and charitable assistance.

Hurricane Irma, the strongest hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic Ocean and one of the five most forceful storms to hit the Atlantic basin in 82 years, is likely to hit Florida as a very powerful Category 4 storm on Sunday.

Earlier too, members of the UAE's social volunteering programme, Takatof, have also visited numerous US communities after natural disasters, partnering with Habitat for Humanity or other local housing-assistance organizations to help with rebuilding efforts, according to a report in the website of the Embassy of the UAE in Washington.

UAE provided $100 million in aid following Hurricane Katrina for immediate disaster- relief efforts. In 2012, the UAE provided a significant grant to assist with the reconstruction and recovery efforts of communities that were impacted by Hurricane Sandy in New York and New Jersey.

Through the New Jersey Hurricane Sandy Relief Fund, 30 schools across nine districts that were impacted by the superstorm received funds to repair and improve their infrastructure, the report said.

After one of the largest tornadoes ever devastated Joplin, Missouri, in May 2011, UAE officials, who had seen the disaster on international news broadcasts, rushed to help.

To help Joplin recover after the tornado destroyed the town's only public high school and a hospital, the UAE provided laptops to almost 2,200 high school students so classes could resume in August. A grant to Mercy Hospital Joplin also funded the construction of a pediatric care wing in the new building.
Photos: Hurricane Irma causes devastation across the Caribbean