HURRICANE IRMA
HURRICANE IRMA ST MAARTEN
Hurricane Irma was one of the most devastating hurricanes the island of St. Maarten / St. Martin has ever witnessed, next to hurricane Luis in 1995 and hurricane Donna in 1960. It grew to a category 5 in the morning of September 6th 2017, causing large damage in the hours after.
In the years since, also thanks to generous support by the people and the Kingdom of the Netherlands on the Dutch side and France on the French side, the island was rebuilt. Many hotels, restaurants and activities used the occasion to rebuild better and (even) more robust. This also pertains to Princess Juliana International Airport (SXM), that has used the damage to recover from the hurricane to improve its operations, a process to be fully finished in some years. For all else, the largest part of the damage caused by Irma has been repaired and built back in an improved manner. In addition, new landmark features to our tourism offer have been added – like the Flying Dutchman, the world’s steepest zipline at Rainforest Adventure Park, opening well within a year of Irma.
For our visitors, it is important to understand that chances are very few they will ever encounter a hurricane on St. Maarten / St. Martin. This is first and foremost because hurricanes rarely hit the island. Secondly, hurricanes are closely monitored as of their departure off the western Sahara coast, weeks in advance of ever approaching the Caribbean. Evacuation systems are prepared that assist with getting people off the island as timely and effectively as possible. There is no reason not to visit the Caribbean during hurricane season (May- October); and thankfully millions of visitors understand that!
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