SINT MAARTEN (GREAT BAY, (DCOMM) – Prime Minister Silveria Jacobs on Sunday morning said that the nation is truly blessed thus far to have experienced minimal tropical storm force winds. Hurricane force winds were on the eastern side of Tammy and therefore the country didn’t experience those types of winds.
The Hurricane Warning for Sint Maarten is discontinued as of 8:00 AM. Tammy is moving towards the north-northwest away from Sint Maarten.
The Business regulation for closure is lifted as of 8:00 AM and businesses are allowed to reopen at their own discretion. An assessment was carried out and there were no challenges observed, however, all are requested to continue to exercise caution due to potential for heavy rains later today.
“Early this morning Tammy shifted further away from the island and therefore the impact that was anticipated based on weather analysis did not take place, and we are truly thankful that the country has once again been spared,” Prime Minister Jacobs said on Sunday morning.
“The losses of an economic impact on our economy and our people would have created considerable challenges, and therefore we have to count our blessings that the hurricane remained further out to sea as well as the majority of the weather activity associated with it.”
Based on continued weather analysis, other islands in the Caribbean such as Guadeloupe and Dominica, did not get particularly high winds due to the fact that Tammy was a very compact hurricane which stayed offshore. Guadeloupe did experience a lot of rain in certain areas which led to serious flooding overnight. Sint Maarten is now under a flood watch as of 8:00 AM in anticipation of rainfall according to MDS. Hurricane Tammy continues to maintain maximum sustained
winds of 85 miles per hour with higher gusts. Tammy continues to move at 10 miles per hour.
With respect to other updates from other Emergency Support Functions (ESFs), in total, two people made use of the John Larmonie Hurricane Center.
NV GEBE did not have to resort to disrupting electricity to customers in two residential areas that were announced by NV GEBE last night as the anticipated weather activity did not take place.
The Princess Juliana International Airport reopened at 9:00 AM on Sunday morning.
The landfills on Pond Island are open.
Sea conditions at Port St. Maarten do not allow for cargo vessels to dock at the port to carry out operations. There were no cruise ship calls scheduled for today, Sunday. An additional assessment will be made later this morning.
The decision regarding school on Monday, October 23 will be taken on Sunday afternoon after further assessment of anticipated weather conditions.
All pharmacies are operating as usual according to their Sunday schedules. The Philipsburg pharmacy is open from 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM; Maho Pharmacy 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM; Simpson Bay Pharmacy 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM.
The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) chaired by the Prime Minister will be meeting at 1:00 PM to assess the situation and further updates will be provided
during the course of the afternoon.
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Sint Maarten community and business sector for their vigilance and action taken to secure life and property in the event of the passing of Hurricane Tammy.
“We know that changes can happen overnight and so we are very grateful that the changes that took place were in our favor. However, we remain vigilant as continued rains associated with the storm can continue for several hours and we will continue to monitor this.
“Our preparations ensured that we are able to bounce back quickly. Continue to remain vigilant as a community and continue to have a blessed and happy day going forward. Thank you, Sint Maarten and for remaining safe,’ Prime
Minister Jacobs concluded in her national address on Sunday morning.
