Zarrin Ahmed, Author at Caribbean Investigative Journalism Network

Zarrin Ahmed

Zarrin Tasnim Ahmed is a journalist in the British Virgin Islands, where she's reported on the territory's recovery from hurricanes Irma and Maria in 2017. She is a Bangladeshi American, born into and raised by an immigrant Muslim family in Connecticut. In addition to earning degrees in English and Journalism from the University of Connecticut, she minored in Asian American Studies. She enjoys reporting on arts and entertainment, courts and crime, government, and social issues. She's currently reporting on the pandemic in the Virgin Islands, covering a range of issues that include its economic and social impacts on the territory. Aside from reporting, she is an avid dancer, photographer, poet, nature enthusiast, and henna artist.

British Virgin Islands

COVID-19, Meet Hurricane Season

By

Zarrin Ahmed | August 27, 2020

As The Corona Virus Batters The Virgin Islands’ Tourism Economy, The Lifeblood Of The Caribbean, Residents Prepare For Hurricane Season Amid Worries About Social Distancing In Shelters. Tortola, British Virgin Islands

Ask anyone in the British Virgin Islands what happened on September 6, 2017 and you will hear detailed accounts about how they survived Hurricane Irma, the Category Five hurricane that killed four people, injured 126 and flattened large swaths of the 60-island archipelago. “All we saw was white,” recalled Christine Ferreira, a native Trinidadian who has lived in the territory for over 20 years. “The roof was blown out, and when we left the room we were sheltered in during the eye of the storm, we were blinded by the light.”

Islanders here call their experiences “survivor stories.”

Their resilience was on full display as they battled the Covid-19 pandemic. “I think after Irma, we all felt like if we can get through that, we can get through anything,” said Christi Maddox, owner of Villas Virgin Gorda, a vacation rental agency on the island of Virgin Gorda.

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