Commentary

In September 2017, the Caribbean basin and the state of Florida encountered Hurricane Irma—the most powerful and potentially the most devastating storm to impact the region since recordings began. This category 5 hurricane formed in the southern part of the North Atlantic Ocean and traversed to the Leeward Islands, smashing into Antigua, Barbuda, Saint Martin, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, leaving them in a major state of peril. All the while, the forecasted path of the eye of the storm directly targeted the metropolitan centers of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, the latter the home of Region 9 Headquarters (HQ), Marine Corps Embassy Security Group (MCESG). The hurricane continued on its path, grazing Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti, fortunately sparing their people major desolation and their infrastructure major damage, but still wreaking havoc on those nations