- Title: Irma information limited but "extremely alarming", French government says
- Date: 6th September 2017
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (SEPTEMBER 6, 2017) (AGENCY POOL) FRENCH GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN, CHRISTOPHE CASTANER, AT WEEKLY NEWS BRIEFING (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN, CHRISTOPHE CASTANER, SAYING: "Like you we don't have much information, (but what we do have) is extremely alarming. The whole government is mobilised to help people the best it can. (This mobilisation) began in the run-up with an invitation to the population to move to secure places. But as you must have been told this invitation was not widely taken up, was insufficiently taken up, and hour by hour we're following the situation, what's happening in these two neighbouring places, but also more widely in the region." CASTANER AT NEWS BRIEFING (SOUNDBITE) (French) FRENCH GOVERNMENT SPOKESMAN, CHRISTOPHE CASTANER, SAYING: "It must be said that the government is totally mobilised and that if it has not yet been decided to send a minister, or several ministers or even the prime minister, who would also be available if necessary, that's because civil society organisations are totally mobilised and for the moment we don't need a ministerial visit to potentially add to the difficulty of the situation. But clearly, the president wished (in cabinet) to talk about this issue which moves us, and which I'm sure moves you too." NEWS BRIEFING UNDERWAY
- Embargoed: 20th September 2017 15:53
- Keywords: France hurricane Irma storm Saint Martin government
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City: PARIS, FRANCE
- Country: France
- Topics: Environment,Weather
- Reuters ID: LVA0016XGLXDZ
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The French government said information about the progress of Hurricane Irma through its Caribbean territories was limited but "extremely alarming" on Wednesday (September 6).
The Category 5 storm -- one of the most powerful in the Atlantic in a century -- hit northern Caribbean islands as it made its way to a possible landfall in Florida at the weekend.
There were power outages and flooding in the small French overseas territories of Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthelemy, situated on the path of the storm.
Government spokesman Christophe Castaner told a weekly news briefing in Paris that public services were fully mobilised to deal with the storm. - Copyright Holder: POOL (CAN SELL)
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