Although St. Maarten/St. Martin was spared any huge storm impact, the just-ended Atlantic hurricane season must have hardly been tranquil for many inhabitants. Still recovering from record-strength Hurricane Irma last year, their nerves were no doubt rattled a bit more than usual by each approaching tropical weather system.
To think one could be well-prepared for another direct major hurricane-hit like that of September 6, 2017, less than nine months later at the start of the following season would have been naïve to say the least. The island remains extremely vulnerable to sustained winds of well over 100 miles per hour, but also torrential rains and very high seas.
For one thing, some of the physical damage has not been fixed yet. In addition, a lot of people needed to make quick repairs without worrying too much about reinforcing their homes or places of business, just to survive.
Or take this year’s shelters, which were chosen mostly because they had withstood Irma reasonably well, not that significant improvements to solidify them were necessarily made. In certain cases, the structures might have been weakened in an unnoticeable manner so there is no guarantee these will hold up to possible equally fierce storms in the future.
All in all, it will take a while before the slogan “building back better” is truly applied on a large scale and that’s completely understandable. There are nevertheless already examples in the adjusted design for the new hospital, the soon-to-partially-reopen airport terminal’s roof, Sonesta Maho Beach Hotel’s Sky Tower and several other projects.
The devastation caused by also landmark Hurricane Luis in 1995 ultimately led to enhanced hurricane-resistant construction practices and – in time – the same can be expected now. Full restoration of the destination’s tourism economy is obviously key to such a positive development and that’s where the immediate focus should continue to be.
