A Twickenham man who led the UK’s response to Hurricanes Maria and Irma has returned home after being deployed to the Caribbean.

Chris Austin, 55, from Heathfield South, was in charge of putting the UK Government’s people, assets and equipment to the best use to help those affected by the hurricanes to recover and return to normal life as quickly as possible.

Irma and Maria were both Category five hurricanes, with a collective death toll of more than 100, and caused catastrophic damage in Dominica, Puerto Rico, Barbuda, Saint Barthélemy, Saint Martin, Anguilla, and the Virgin Islands.

When he arrived on September 14, Chris said: “I was initially struck by the size and scale of what we were dealing with.

“There are several small islands that were affected by the hurricanes, spread over 1,000 nautical miles.

“When I started, the damage to electricity and telephone cables meant there was precious little mobile phone or email coverage within the Islands never mind between them, and lots of areas were simply inaccessible.

“This meant that any form of communication, or getting accurate feedback on who was where and needing what form of assistance, was a real challenge.”

Along with the logistical issues, they also had to deal the political complexity of what was going on- most of the affected islands are British Overseas Territories and deemed “too wealthy” to qualify for overseas development assistance.

Chris has worked in international development for 33 years.

He said: “The response I witnessed in the Caribbean surpassed anything I’ve seen before.

“This was by no means a normal situation – two category five hurricanes after there’d never been one before – and nor was the UK Government’s response ‘off the shelf’.

“To lead a team of 2,500 people who had the knowledge, the experience and the flexibility to play whatever hand they got dealt and to still make the best of it, was truly inspiring and humbling.”

He believes the UK has improved in its humanitarian response over the past few years.

He said: “We’ve learnt lessons from our joint response to Haiti, the Philippines and Ebola, and there is now a mutual respect and understanding of what each party can bring to the table.

“We simply could not have provided the substantial and effective relief response we did without the men and women in uniform who got out there from day one, rolled their sleeves up and started clearing debris, fixing power and water systems, and working alongside local people and the local governments.

“I tip my hat to them all.”

Chris added that the resilience of his colleagues was only surpassed “by the courage and determination of the locals” whom he got to know well during his time on the islands.

He said: “They are determined to get back on their own feet, and are doing just that already.

“They are making schools and clinics more robust, fixing power and water supplies, getting the economy moving again.

“It will take time and energy for the affected Islands to build back better, and the UK will be with them all the way.”