St. Martin’s famous Princess Juliana International Airport has been seriously damaged by Hurricane Irma’s 185 mph winds.
Aerial photos of the popular vacation destination show that the airport, though not fully destroyed, is unreachable and not functional. ABC reports that support will have to be delivered via helicopter.
The airport is not the only property suffering from severe damage. ABC reports that the damage to some of the large resort companies on St. Martin’s is so bad that they have canceled reservations for the rest of 2017. Sonesta, a resort company that has three resorts on the island, reported that none of the resort’s guests or staff members were harmed during the storm, but they did cancel reservations for the year.
Vliegveld ‘Princess Juliana International Airport’ op #SintMaarten is ook platgewaaid door #orkaan #Irma… #SXM pic.twitter.com/cVWwBeiX0b
— Bondtehond (@Bondtehond) September 6, 2017
At least eight people were killed, and 21 more were injured on St. Martin during the storm, according to French Interior Minister Gérard Collomb and reported by ABC.
Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte said as soon as the weather permits, two marine ships from Aruba and Curacao will head to St. Martins to deliver military and relief supplies, reports ABC.
2 / #Vliegveld ‘Princess Juliana International Airport’ op #SintMaarten is ook platgewaaid door #orkaan #Irma – #Philipsburg #SXM #Maho pic.twitter.com/IvOZh8qjN0
— Bondtehond (@Bondtehond) September 6, 2017
Hurricane Irma isn’t stopping anytime soon, unfortunately. The category five storm is expected to move on to Turks and Caicos and the southeastern Bahamas before landing in Florida on Sunday morning.
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