The news for Tortuga is a better one.

I am happy to say the news about Tortuga is a better one. The idea of 26,000 people to disappear is a shocking reality check.

Although a tragic and deadly catatrphe has in fact occured, the latest news sheds light on a better ending for Tortuga Island.

The main source of the reports came from two United nations helicopter crews who were dispatched to assess the damage to Tortuga by hurricane Jeanne. When they made thier first few fly bys all they could see was washed out land, or perhaps no land at all.
It has been reported in the broadcast which came over the UN radio was (parts maybe lost in transition) the Island is gone.I can only see large waves. At this the UN tandem helicopter crew continued aerial surveillance, bodies were seen floating in the water.
It may have been 100's washed away by high winds and tsunami like waves. It is not hard to see how this tandem crew put two and two together to complete a visual and make their report as posted by several news agencies.
What was officially reported by UN representatives was based on the above observations. So , indeed it looked to them as though the Island of Tortuga had vanished and all of it's 26,000 inhabitants were gone.
the not so good news is in fact, that thousands have died, many of which were seen floating in the waters around Tortuga and Haiti. The search and rescue opperation continues.

I do not mean to paint a rosy picture, just because only two or three thousand people have died, not 26,000. It is trully a disaster which has occured and ongoing. The prognosis for Central American coastal Islands and the Eastern Coast is at best guarded.
The future is uncertain and new tropical storms and renewed hurricanes have yet to subside. Tweet