Cyclist to ride 1,000km in flip flops to raise money for Caribbean hurricane relief effort

A man from Milton Keynes plans to cycle 1,000km in a pair of flip flops in order to raise money for survivors of Hurricane Irma in the Caribbean.

Jean-Louis Button was born in the Dutch territory of St Maarten, which was devastated by storm force winds and catastrophic sea water surges earlier this month.

He said: “ Although I have lived in the UK for most of my life, I still feel a connection to the island.”

He has begun crowdfunding for his efforts, and will pass any donations to the Red Cross relief effort.

He aims to raise £5,000, and is well on the way with donations totalling more than £800.

He added: “When I saw the first images of the devastation left by Hurricane Irma I couldn’t help myself but curl up in a ball and just cry uncontrollably.

“My thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected across the nations and I wish I could do more to help.

He added that his bike was hardly fit for purpose, saying it was "not designed for long distance. It only has one gear, and to brake you have to pedal backwards."

To support Jean-Louis, click here.

During the hurricane’s landfall in the USA, we reported how footage emerged from Miami of two men riding bikes in the height of the storm.

“This is incredibly stupid", remarked a reporter live at the scene. "These two guys going out in the rain and in these storms. First of all I don’t know how they’re staying up on two wheels… they may be joyseekers but that is absolutely unsafe.”

Overwhelmed emergency services were unable to respond to calls at the time according to the reporter, heightening the danger the cyclists had put themselves in.

 The hurricane created havoc through the east coast of the United States and parts of the Caribbean, with several deaths reported.