Sandy Ground inundated by wind & water from Irma …

The area of Sandy Ground on the French Part of St. Martin is one of the districts over run by two elements of Irma, Wind and Water; Sandy Ground suffered the most casualties on the French side. We’ve heard of terrified stories of families just barely able to get out of their dwellings ahead of the tumbling waves that not only undermine most of the buildings on the seas shore, but flooded homes across the street and stretching into the heart of Sandy Ground.

The high waves associated with Irma brought ashore plenty of water and sand covering the entire street stretching east to west. Also came on land were boats left in the ocean in the hope that they would survive the wrath of the sea but came ashore instead.  The ocean brought in everything in its way onto the property of those living in the area. Some residents spoke of their homes been completely covered with water. In an emotional interview with the sister of one of the victims of Irma, she lamented her sister was living right next door to her when the force of the ocean came in and the house crumbled killing her. In tears, she spoke of the experience and worst of all having lost everything but her life, she is still at a lost for what hope tomorrow will bring.

The French government is doing what they can to help out families by setting up temporary relief areas to distribute food items. The citizens of French St. Martin lined up in an orderly manner near the water front awaiting their turn for relief. From the look of things on the French side, most of the heavy damage and loss of life can be attributed to the force of the ocean overwhelming those who were left in its path. As for structural damages suffered from the strong winds, It looks like it’s still a long way to go before things could be back up and running again.

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