St. Maarten took a pounding from Irma…
It’s exactly one week ago Wednesday 07 September that the Island of St. Maarten took a pounding from the strongest Hurricane on record in the Atlantic, Hurricane Irma. St. Maarten was right in the path of Irma when it hit the Island head on packing winds of well over 200 MPH and causing catastrophic damage. More than 80 % of the homes and business either totally demolished, damaged or have lost their roof. The hurricane knocked out power and communication on the Island for about a week now and the vegetation and greenery is all gone.
The damage caused by the Hurricane brought both French and Dutch officials at the highest level, to the island to witness firsthand the extent of the damages and casualties brought on by the monster storm. Luckily, the casualties were kept to a minimum. Unofficial count is at about a dozen with the majority of the deaths on the French side. While the amount of casualties still sketchy, the damages caused will throw the island back for another 8 to 10 weeks before we can get things stabilized once again.
Another disappointing faze to the passing of Irma was the amount of looting that took place after the hurricane. Some of the businesses that suffered damages were left open for looting but some raiders went over board and began targeting unprotected businesses left intact especially in the Capital Philipsburg area, and began breaking in and stealing. That behavior displayed by some in the community could only be described as chaotic and totally out of control. After the arrival of the Dutch Marines and with the help of the local police, things began getting a little under control, but the damages, and the horror for those who’ve been through this storm is still taking its toll on the population to this day.
People have been reaching out to find love ones using LASER 101 the only radio station that manage to be up and running and providing information to the community about what’s going on, while others who can’t bear with the aftermath were been evacuated by military planes to neighboring islands.
The cleanup is now been carried out and although it looks like it will be another 6 to 8 weeks before we might see some real progress and less visibility of the damages caused by Irma, some people are carrying on with their lives without water and electricity; a number of businesses are also conducting humanitarian efforts, handing out tangible reliefs and organizations coordinating distributions to help those who can use them get by, Those charitable deeds are a good sign that recovery might be coming faster than anticipated. In reality however, the impact of Hurricane Irma is still very much visible one week after, with a lot of areas still needing attention.
###
