The three Sonesta resorts on St. Maarten (Maho Beach, Ocean Point and Great Bay Beach)
sustained widespread damage and destruction from Category 5 Hurricane Irma as did the Princess Juliana
Airport.
There is no word yet as to when the airport will resume
operations.
Due to the damages at the Sonesta properties, all
further reservations are canceled through the end of 2017. All prepaid reservations through 2017 will be refunded as
soon as the resorts restore operations.
On Anguilla, major resorts are relatively intact, although
private residences sustained some damage, according to the Anguilla Tourist
Board. The Clayton J. Lloyd Airport did not sustain serious damage, although it
has not yet reopened.
The Pumphouse restaurant and bar in Sandy Ground was
destroyed. Roy's Bayside Grill, also in Sandy Ground, "made it through but
there is a lot of work to be done," according to its Facebook post. The Sunshine Shack, one of Anguilla's most popular beachfront bars and
restaurants, "is completely destroyed," according to Garvey the
owner, who plans to rebuild.
Malliouhana, an Auberge Resort, had no guests as it was
closed through Oct. 13 and will now begin its recovery phase.
Barbuda, the tiny island part of the dual-island nation of
Antigua and Barbuda, had massive destruction, according to Midcie Francis,
spokesperson for the National Office of Disaster Services for Antigua and
Barbuda.
Prime Minister Gaston Browne visited the island Wednesday
and reported that "95% of the properties suffered significant damage."
In the British Virgin Islands, Richard Branson, owner of
private Necker Island, sat out the storm in the wine cellar and later posted
that a lot of buildings were destroyed.
"Nature is again warning us of climate change. We must
do more to combat this," he posted in his blog.
The Robert Bradshaw Airport on St. Kitts reopens at noon on
Thursday.