The "Sadness And Concern For The People Of SXM: Part I - The Power Of The Spoken Word" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Reading post after post on Facebook as well as TravelTalkOnline (TTOL) about the near total destruction of the island known as St. Martin/Sint Maarten.  The island is half French and half Dutch and both countries have begun to send troops, security and humanitarian aide to the island to cope with the damage to the island due to the monster known as Irma.  Carol and I are so distraught wondering if our annual visit to the island next spring will ever happen.  The number one industry on the island is tourism and I'm sure the island will do everything they can to return to normal as quickly as possible.  Resorts have already begun to announce closings and cancelations until the end of the year.  I'm sure there isn't enough skilled labor on either side of the island to perform the daunting task they face, but perhaps skilled labor could be imported from nearby islands as well as their native lands.  We have been traveling to the island since the early 2000s and still notice traces of destruction and despair that date to Hurricane Luis which struck the island in 1995.  I can only imagine how long it will take the island to recover from Irma.  But, life must go on and tourists will once again return to the beautiful beaches and friendly atmosphere of the island.  I have added a few comments  from Facebook and TTOL that show exactly what the island has to deal with at the moment.  I'm so glad Carol and I had the chance to visit during the past and hope to be able to return as soon as possible to support their economy and maybe lend a hand in someway to bring then back to normalcy.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

Following are a few comments and correspondence that I have cut and pasted; therefore unedited.  Hard to read at times since it shows total destruction, fear and despair.  You may find it hard to read as well as understand how this can happen.  I could have added many, many more, but you'll get the idea after reading what I have posted.   Tomorrow I will follow with photographs and videos:  

Dear World.  St. Maarten/St. Martin looks like a huge bomb exploded. All I can tell you is after I left the bathroom that protected Rajesh and I - I thought this is what it must have felt like after people emerged from their shelters after World War II. We need water, desperately. We need food, desperately. The food that was available was been taken by looters. Our tourism industry, our life blood, is gone. Our airport is severely damaged. One of our cruise piers is broken.

Dear Shareholders,  It's ugly!  Steve and Bert just returned to Grand Case Beach Club from a visit to Club Orient.  Their findings include the following: All wood units are gone. Presumably the slabs are left, but the buildings are gone.  Gatehouse is gone.  Pedro concrete wall … gone.  Concrete buildings survived.  Roofs gone or damaged.  Except for the waterfront chalets 46-52 … They are gone.  No sign of where they went.  Hurricane shutters on units left are gone as well as the contents of all the houses … presumably sucked out by the wind … no sign of where the furniture, cabinets, appliances, etc., went.  The tennis courts are gone.  Steve and Bert drove through Orient Village where most of the buildings are standing but the contents of the first floors that they could see into are gone.  Looters beat Steve and Bert to the resort.  They were clearing out the Boutique. We let them take the contents because presumably they need the stuff worse than we do!  According to Frédéric Lecomte, our Paris attorney, the French media are reporting that 95% of the island is destroyed.  We have a huge job in front of us. We will need a lot of out-of-the-box thinking to reinvent Club Orient … better than ever.

Safe and sound.....  The rest is a disaster......  I urge the rescue and the army to stop looting.....  Big Case is shaved off the map for now.  Need to get news from the team (I didn't get everyone).  Love you Calmos !!!!  See you soon.

Everyone, people are getting out and starting to check on each other & pick up debris as Irma swirls Northwestward. There is much debris as pictures here show. More pictures will be coming. The airport suffered damages to both its arrival and departure areas. Those damages will clearly take weeks to fix, but the airport will reopen much faster than that - as soon as it can do so safely. There are many rumors flying around and power is generally out. Please don't repeat rumors. As soon as we have real verified facts we'll pass them along. Hurricane Jose (to be named a hurricane within the next day at the most) so far is following a similar path. As always we will keep you posted. Much more - whatever we have - will be in the next SXM Weekly News.

On behalf of Sonesta Resorts Sint Maarten, we confirm that all guests who were in-house during the passing of Hurricane Irma have been evacuated. The last group left on a Sunwing aircraft today, 9 September 2017 to Punta Cana. We are overwhelmed with emotion knowing that these heroic individuals will be reunited with their family and friends soon. We respect their confidence in our entire team during this extremely difficult time.  The Dutch Marines will be using Sonesta Maho Resort as its base of operations in Sint Maarten. Princess Juliana International Airport continues to remain under the control of the Dutch military.  It is also confirmed that Samaritan’s Purse will be sending another DC-8 aircraft of supplies along with a 14-person Disaster Assistance Response Team to assist in relief efforts for a total of a 28-person team; the group will also be using Sonesta Maho Resort as its base of operations.  Thank you to everyone who helped evacuation efforts possible. While our beloved island may be destroyed, we are confident in the hearts and compassion of each other.

Please humans have humanity. Spare animals. Stop stealing from the zoo. Help, rather than creating chaos... KARMA IS WATCHING... don't know the intentions of your stealing zoo animals, but if you intend to eat them you are inviting sickness. BEAWARE.

Hi ppl of SXM: if anyone is staying in the Cole Bay Area, Dr. Romney at Animal Hospital next to Subway/Almond Grove is caring for around 30 dogs at his clinic. He is there (in the back) everyday at 4pm. If you can help walk dogs, clean cages, bring water, or maybe even foster or adopt a puppy...please come help. He is also available at that time to provide veterinary services, health certificates, micro chips etc for evacuation of your pet.

The Department of State is working with the Department of Defense to continue evacuation flights on September 11. U.S. citizens desiring to leave should proceed to the airport to arrive by noon on Monday carrying their U.S. passport or other proof of U.S. citizenship and identity. Passengers may be allowed carry on one small bag. Medications and any other essential items should be carried on your person.

AIRPORT  Has suffered major interior damage. Some smaller relief planes have landed on the runway, from pictures seen. No idea if it is safe yet for larger planes. I would assume it will be quite some time before it is available for commercial use.

DIVI LITTLE BAY RESORT  From Elisa Cohen--I was here in SXM for Hurricane Luis and spent it in Orient Bay on the french side. Irma has far surpassed Luis. We were prepared and ready but it didnt really matter. I spent my hurricane at Divi Little Bay Resort as I am the restaurants manager on the property. Luckily no one was injured but it was and is a long arduous experience. We are currently almost 300 people stuck in the resort. The airport is closed and we need to feed these guests and provide shelter and water to them till they can get off the island.

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit the Caribbean on Tuesday in an effort to persuade locals on the Irma-devastated islands of St. Martin and St. Barts that Paris has not abandoned them.

Macron, whose popularity has plummeted at home, is taking flak from political opponents and islanders on the French territories for what they consider to have been inadequate hurricane preparations and a slow response to the mass destruction of homes and infrastructure.  Fourteen people were killed on St. Martin -- 10 on the French side of the island, four on the Dutch side -- after Hurricane Irma struck on Wednesday. Damage to the island is estimated at more than $1.65 billion by the French state-run reinsurance body, the CCR, which specializes in natural disasters.  Homes, shops, boats and cars were destroyed, electricity and water supplies cut, and looters were filmed rampaging through the wreckage. More than 1,500 police, gendarmes, soldiers and emergency workers have been sent to the islands to quash outbreaks of violence and pillaging. An additional 500 are on their way.

(Update: Associated Press tweeted that French President Emmanuel Macron will visit St Martin on Tuesday. Macron tweeted on Saturday that an additional contingent of 240-300 French officers are being sent to restore order to the island.)  Citizens and some news sources are reporting that the island of St Martin/St Maarten is on the verge of a civil war as organized gangs armed with machetes raid stores and homes, leaving some residents in fear for their lives.   The island, which remains isolated after widespread destruction caused by Hurricane Irma, remains cut off after the island’s main airport was significantly damaged.  French news site Depeche  reported that some residents have barred themselves inside their villas, fearing for their lives after gangs broke into a customs building and took weapons that were stored there.   Residents say these gangs are smashing the doors of houses, shouting "outside the whites".  "I’ve lived in St Martin for more than 20 years… No one fully realizes what’s going on right now - it’s the apocalypse here. The French government is doing nothing – they’re just going on TV, saying they are doing this or that but nothing is being done."  "The police are not well trained…they haven’t lifted a finger to help us out of this mess. Stop showing us footage of destruction here – we know that already… come help us! We want to get out of St Martin! We cannot stay here! People are being killed! We pay our taxes and follow all the rules… Come get us! We cannot stay here! You have to evacuate the people that are here. We are part of France so get off your butts, stop talking rubbish on television – there are not 10 deaths, there are thousands of deaths! So get off your butts and come help us!"  “It is now confirmed on the basis of several testimonies, that it is the biggest chaos in St-Martin on the security level. To the plundering are added many other facts much more serious, consequence of taking possession of the street and the districts by organized gangs.”  The news site reported that gangs of people armed with cutlasses and knives are patrolling the streets and women are at high risk of being attacked or raped.  The gangs are also pillaging homes believed to be abandoned.  “The population seems to be left to its own devices, obliged to organize itself as it can to defend itself against thieves.”

“It's a disaster what happens in Saint Martin... There's a civil war... people get kicked out by getting beaten up to get a drop of water.”  “The Army and law enforcement are completely out of date... it shoots everywhere, people fight everywhere to pick up the smallest things: for example, gasoline for groups…everyone is getting looted and no longer have food and drink... all that trying To avoid gunfire from all sides!”  “People walk around wearing hoods in cars and armed!! I beg you... help us... We've never seen this... it's total ko. Families with children get déloger on anse de Sable, low ground, baie bay, big case, marigot.... it's a horror scene.”