A HUSBAND has spoken of his ‘disgust’ at a lack of support for his wife and son who were caught up in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma.

Karl Boulton, of Kings Furlong Drive, has spoken out after his wife Tracey, 55 and son Edward, 18, were caught up in the devastation of the hurricane while they were on holiday on the Caribbean island of Saint Martin.

After broken communication with his wife to know her and Edward were safe, Mr Boulton tried to find out what the evacuation plan was.

However, neither Mr Boulton or his wife were getting answers when US troops were evacuating Americans.

On Friday, 8 September, cruise ships were evacuating tourists from the Dutch colony, but Mrs Boulton and her son were told they were not due on the ships.

Mr Boulton eventually got in touch with the Dutch authorities who were dealing with the evacuation plans, and the pair were finally flown to Antigua, on Monday, 11 September.

“The Foreign and Commonwealth Office has been absolutely dire,” the 59-year-old told The Gazette.

“There has been no British consulate for British residents out there, and it was not until Friday that they were told to seek local assistance, but weren’t told where to go.”

During the ordeal, Mr Boulton said he was communicating with his wife, who along with her son was evacuated yesterday (Wednesday), via block text messages as she could only get signal in one spot in the complex they were staying.

He added: “When all the looting started it became less and less safe for her to leave the complex and they were told to stay put and someone would get them. The whole situation has been awful.

“The worrying thing my wife and son are not the only ones who are going through this and it seems there is a huge lack of support.”

Through the ordeal, Mr Boulton had been in talks with Basingstoke MP Maria Miller, who he praised for helping to get the Foreign Office to get in touch with his wife.

Mrs Miller said: “The Foreign Office is under a huge amount of pressure in what is an extremely difficult situation.

Any constituent who is caught up in such an horrendous situation should be able to call on the authorities for help.”