That was the front page headline of Monday, September 11, 1995, six days after Hurricane Luis devastated St. Maarten/St. Martin. A similar sentiment reigns since Irma hit the island even harder 22 years later almost to the day.
As back then with Marilyn, the community was further traumatised by the additional potentially disastrous storms José and Maria, both of which thankfully stayed at a relatively safe distance. This nevertheless led to an undesirable delay in the recovery effort, which has now resumed.
There is much to say after 14 days without a newspaper, about lack of adequate preparation, including opening shelters only after Irma had passed; about widespread looting and robbing while the military lacked an official mandate to combat such; about taking too long to get emergency goods that were quickly flown in to the people; etc. However, rather than dwelling on criticism the focus should be on moving on, learning from this life-changing experience and improving for the future.
Of course, avoiding extensive damage from a record-setting 185-miles-per-hour sustained winds Atlantic hurricane like Irma is a tall order. Nevertheless, as it appears these systems are becoming ever stronger and the local area was faced with two category 5 and one category 4 storms within two weeks, that’s exactly what must be done.
Existing building codes should be strictly enforced and, if necessary, sharpened. Effective security will somehow have to be provided right after the passage of major hurricanes to prevent the kind of lawlessness that characterised local streets during the first two days, with all social economic consequences.
Reviving the island and its hospitality industry won’t be easy. That the Maho Group’s all-inclusive resorts have committed to redevelopment is a good thing, but they also announced closure for the upcoming winter, while the related Sunwing Group cancelled its flights from Canada until April.
This means the destination will mostly have to do without this growing market during the high season, which is when the bulk of the annual income is traditionally earned. A lot will depend on timeshare properties and their predominantly American clients plus vacation home owners, who have proven loyal in the past following Luis, but also the travel crisis prompted by the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US, so long as there is sufficient affordable airlift available for them to get here.
Cruise tourism too has regrettably come to a standstill and the itineraries of all the ships involved have meanwhile been changed until further notice. Hopefully, they will start returning before the end of the year as they did following Luis.
Make no mistake, the huge challenges ahead will require a change of mentality, including a sense of togetherness and common purpose, along with adaptability whereby, for example, waiters find work as carpenters. But with insurance monies and financial aid from the Kingdom of the Netherlands as well as other countries coming in, “The Friendly Island” will rebound to become better and more resistant to the forces of nature, ready to once again welcome its faithful guests to their “home away from home.”
