Meet the Greasby man who led the UK's response to Hurricane Irma and Maria

Chris Austin, 55, is head of the UK Taskforce in the Carribbean where he led the response to two devastating natural disasters this year.

An ex-pupil of Brookdale Primary and Birkenhead School, Chris now works for the Government's Department for International Development and has previously worked in Bangladesh and Afghanistan.

In September Hurricane Irma landed in the Atlantic, the strongest observed since Hurricane Wilma in 2005.

Irma developed near the Cape Verde Islands and devastated Anguilla, Barbuda, Saint Martin, Saint Barthélemy, Anguilla and the Virgin Islands. 

Deemed as the worst natural disaster on record in Dominica and Puerto Rico, Hurricane Maria triggered a major humanitarian crisis, leaving a trail of destruction in its path.

(Picture: DFID/Watkins)

Chris told the Globe: "It was my job to make sure we put all of the UK Government's people, assets and equipment to the best use, in a way that helps those affected by the Hurricanes to recover and return to normal life as quickly as possible.

"My initial thoughts on arriving in post were two fold, possibly three.

" 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 on September 14, 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.

"In addition to the logistical challenges, there was also the political complexity of what we were dealing with, given that most of the affected islands are British Overseas Territories and deemed too wealthy to qualify for Overseas Development Assistance."

While in the Carribbean, Chris lead a team of 2,500 people and has praised their resilience dealing with the devastating aftermath of the hurricanes. 

(Picture: DFID/Watkins)

He added: "I’ve been in and around international development for 33 years, and 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.

"The humanitarian’s collaboration with the military is talked about often, and over the last few years I honestly believe we have got better at it.

"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.

"The resilience of my civilian and military colleagues was only surpassed by the courage and determination of the locals, many of whom I had the great pleasure of getting to know across the islands during my deployment."

Locals from the area are now making schools and clinics more robust and fixing the power and water supplies to the islands.