My fellow Starland citizens and fellow micronationalists,
Over the past few days, I have been monitering the situations on the East Coast of the United States. I have been monitering Hurricane Earl and the micronations in this area. As many of you may be aware, this hurricane is a Category 3 storm, a moderate but still destructive wall of wind and rain. Hurricanes are very common on the Eastern and Southern United States where the weather is more tropical during this time of year. They are much like the typhoons and cyclones that whip the Far East and Oceania every year.
This hurricane will be the worst storm in two years and the worst in the small nation's history. When Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, it was a Category 5 Hurricane when it hit. The storm surges caused eighty-percent of the city to be flooded and to this day they are still trying to recover. In 2008, Hurricanes Gustav and Ike hit the Southern US coast within just weeks of each other. Gustav did little damage but made many cringe over whether the levees in New Orleans would hold. They did, but there was some extensive flooding and water damage. When Hurricane Ike hit, it made landfall as a Category 2 storm with Category 5 storm surges. This caused extensive damage and people in low-lying areas were told they would "face certain death." Sometimes it is not the storm, but the surges, that can cause the most damage. But the storm certainly is responsible for deaths. These Hurricanes were Category 2 storms; this storm is currently a Category 3. It is expected to cause more damage and more flooding and potentially more deaths than Gustav or Ike.
Now, why would the Queen of a micronation on the western United States care about the events of a micronation nearly three thousand miles away? Because one micronation about to be hit by this storm is the former Democratic Republic of Cliff Island (DRCI), now the Kingdom of Emerald Isle, and a good friend of ours. The people there are preparing for this destructive storm and the King is going to ride out the storm with his citizens. I have made contact with His Majesty King Jackson and have informed him that the Starland Royal Government and the Starlander people are here for them and stand by them in their hour of need. We certainly want to wish them all the best and hope they stay safe. They are certainly in our thoughts and prayers but once the worst is over, we look forward to seeing them rise again even stronger and powerful than before. And with us standing with them, a new and better day will emerge from this disaster.
So, as we watch events unfold over the next few days in the Kingdom of Emerald Isle, Starland and its government will begin preparing itself to help the people there any way we can. The people will not have to go through this alone and they should not have to. I ask for all nations to pledge to stand by the Kingdom of Emerald Isle and to help them any way you can. If this were your nation, wouldn't you want help and to have others supporting you?
So, let's all join together, regardless of our politics and ideologies, to help a fellow micronation. If we can do this, it will prove that we can work together and put our differences aside to help another. And we will look back and say that when faced with a challenge, we rose to meet it as friends, as enemies, capitalists, communists, as fellow micronationalists together for one common goal.
Thank you and good day!
~Her Royal Majesty Queen Victoria I