As a result of hurricanes Harvey, Erma and Maria in September 2017, The Federal Emergency Management Agency, FEMA, took the unprecedented step of reaching beyond their agency and beyond the Department of Homeland Security to other federal agencies for help with the hurricane relief efforts. Lion Daniel A. (Tony) Barry, an assistant Director with the Department of Justice, answered the call from FEMA to help and was chosen to work as part of the logistics team deployed to the US Virgin Islands.
Lion Tony spent 45 days working logistics missions between St Croix, St Thomas and St John all three of which were hit extremely hard by both Hurricane Erma and Hurricane Maria. The three main islands that make up the US Virgin Islands are populated by extremely resourceful and resilient US citizens who are used to making do with what they have and dealing with the normal hardships of remote and isolated island life, but the back to back hurricanes dealt them a blow that was devastating. Sustained winds in excess of 200mph were recorded during the hurricanes, roofs were ripped off homes, power poles and trees were snapped in half and boats were washed ashore and destroyed. The islands looked like a war zone. The Island power grid is not expected to be fully operational until mid-2018.
Lion Tony performed logistics missions that included coordinating food, water and tarp distribution in conjunction with the Red Cross, he assisted several first responder entities including NJ State Troopers and Emergency Medical Technicians, Main National Guard, and FEMA with transportation requirements throughout the Islands and he assisted with setting up vital emergency communications equipment and command and control facilities to help coordinate the efforts of State and Local governments with those of FEMA.
While deployed on the islands, Lion Tony ate and slept on one of several commercial ships that were procured by FEMA to house first responders. The ship was comfortable but very tight and lacked any privacy, but compared to the hardships endured by the Islanders, it was heaven. After his deployment to the US Virgin Islands recovering from double disasters, Lion Tony has a new appreciation for the basic comforts of home and was glad to be able to help the disaster survivors but will be glad to get home.