The Truth about Caribbean Hurricane Season
The Hurricane Katrina tragedy and presently Wilma's aftermath keep tropical storms on frontpage news and hurricanes are now on the mind of everyone who plans to visit the tropics.

We are constantly asked if our area has any damage from recent storms: No - there were no hurricanes in our region and there is absoultely no damage to report. As a matter of fact, is was a rather easy hurricane season down here in the Lesser Antilles.

As a veteran of five hurricanes, one of them a category 5, I believe my experience in handling and surviving them on a boat can put the risk of cyclones into proper perspective. Let me use this article to respond to the many email inquires I'm receiving on this topic.

Weather disturbances develop off the coast of West Africa, travel the Atlantic Ocean and are fueled by hot ocean water to turn into powerful cyclones. More hurricanes reach the US mainland than touch the Lesser Antilles. Small islands have one big advantage in case of a storm: a surge doesn't build up, because water can flow around the land mass. St. Maarten/St. Martin went through a major disaster in September 1995 with Hurricane Luis, and the island still has scars. But many things have been improved following the lessons of Luis: utilities are now mostly underground, all new construction is definitely fully hurricane proof, and all buildings older than 10 years have proven their strength, because they survived the monstrous Luis.
Hurricanes look impressive on satellite images, but their actual size is somewhat more compact: only a path about 50 to 80 miles wide has the power for true destruction. On a geographical scale, this is a relatively narrow trail. Last year, Hurricane Ivan missed Sint Maarten by about 140 miles, but we didn't get any wind, just ocean swells.

What are the dangers for a visitor? In case of a major hurricane and a direct hit, the resort you are staying at will advise you of safety procedure. All resorts can handle the high winds, but you might be inconvenienced by spotty power services, no water pressure and cut-off communications. All major resorts have full generator back-up, some even their own water plants. Will your life be in danger? Not if the past hurricanes hitting the island are an indication. Only a fool will explore the beach in a middle of a blow or roam the streets. Once you stay indoors and let it "blow over", you will be okay. Just don't be on a boat, as I would be. Its no fun to support a boat's effort to survive a storm.

Hurricanes of categories 1 and 2 should not do more than ruffle the region's feathers a little. Category 3 is more serious and if you experience it on island, you might have several days of bad weather and a lot of beach erosion. The damage of categories 4 and 5 can't be predicted anymore, but I believe St. Maarten will survive much better than most regions in the US.

Public assistance: the performance of the French and Dutch government to the Hurricane Luis disaster 10 years ago was spectacular. The wind had stopped blowing only for a few short hours, the dazed population hadn't even crawled out of their shattered homes yet, but there was a steady stream of huge military cargo planes landing at Princess Juliana Airport.

The island was secured, food distributed, even small amounts of gasoline handed out and especially on the French side services installed rapidly. There was never fear of running out of water or food.

Bottom line: In case of a storm, play it save and listen to resort management. But there is no reason to avoid our beautiful Antillean islands during hurricane season. The slight risk of having bad weather is certainly set off by the much, much lower prices during this part of the year.
- posted by Jan @ 7:32 PM