My husband just found this on YouTube.
It is an amazing documentary of what St. Maarten looked like after Luis hit us.
I found it very hard to watch. It reminds me of why I am so scared every time a new hurricane season rolls around.
Once you have lived through one and its aftermath, you never forget.

[www.youtube.com]

[barcann.livejournal.com]

Barbara, I'll never forget how Maho area looked from the plane windows. Exactly like the Berlin photo's of buildings without roofs from WWII bombing.And for yrs they were left in that condition till repairs were made.Sad time on SXM.

I know Bob
those sights are unforgettable.

[barcann.livejournal.com]

Thank you for sharing that with us.It reminds you of what mother nature can do in a blink of an eye. I think we all need a reality check from time to time, to remind us how much we need to help others and depend on each other in bad times. It makes little things unimportant. I remember flying over the island at Christmas time after that storm. I felt sick to my stomach. A lot of work had already been done by that time. We came down for three weeks. I remember driving along the road and the road just disappearing in places. It did look like all the trees had been burned. All the poor dogs wandering. I remember the hard work through all that season the people on the island did trying to get it back to livable conditions for their families the hard work cleaning up huge amounts of rubble. I remember seeing dirty muddy roads with huge puddles and on Sunday mornings being amazed to see families all dressed up for church walking along the road and their children dressed in pure white dresses and their hair all done with beautiful ribbons, dodging the puddles walking to church. The Christmas gift drive the radio station put on to gather gifts for the children for Christmas, and thinking to myself, thank god for what I have and being thankful we do not have hurricanes to endure where we come from. It did look like a war had gone on. Still the islanders smiled, had a kind word to say, and went out of their way to make us welcome. I hope the island never goes through that again. The island is beautiful again, I miss the old charm it had before, but hopefully if there is a next time the materials used to rebuild will withstand any other storms and make it a safer place while it happens. We were still glad we came. We have always come regardless. It makes you very aware of how a community can become close and work together to get out of a terrible situation.

We were in Grand Case in late May '95. I remember talking to one of the guys on the staff at GCBC about how hot it was that week. "Bad hurricane season coming.", I remember him saying.

I guess he knew, alright.

I bought the VHS tape, but I haven't looked at it in while. I can't remember if its the same as this YouTube. Although its definitely longer than 8 minutes.

Alan,
It's not the same as the one on Youtube. the one you bought was produce by "multi media" I beleived, if it is the same as I have, and I beleive the only one who was commercialised at that time. It is much longer than 8 minuts, it's about 1 hour and some, and sincerly, me too I didn't watch it in a long time... I recall it was extremly difficult to watch at that time, and I can say , I must be crazy (or masochist ...) to have bought it after living the Luis experience myself...Did I really needed a reminder? Did I tought I was going to forget one day, and that's why I bought it? I have no idea... the only thing I am sure now, is that I never forgot how it was, and never will.

Kind Regards,
Philippe



[www.facebook.com]

Anonymous User Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thank you for sharing that with us.It reminds you
> of what mother nature can do in a blink of an eye.
> I think we all need a reality check from time to
> time, to remind us how much we need to help others
> and depend on each other in bad times. It makes
> little things unimportant. I remember flying over
> the island at Christmas time after that storm. I
> felt sick to my stomach. A lot of work had already
> been done by that time. We came down for three
> weeks. I remember driving along the road and the
> road just disappearing in places. It did look like
> all the trees had been burned. All the poor dogs
> wandering. I remember the hard work through all
> that season the people on the island did trying to
> get it back to livable conditions for their
> families the hard work cleaning up huge amounts of
> rubble. I remember seeing dirty muddy roads with
> huge puddles and on Sunday mornings being amazed
> to see families all dressed up for church walking
> along the road and their children dressed in pure
> white dresses and their hair all done with
> beautiful ribbons, dodging the puddles walking to
> church. The Christmas gift drive the radio station
> put on to gather gifts for the children for
> Christmas, and thinking to myself, thank god for
> what I have and being thankful we do not have
> hurricanes to endure where we come from. It did
> look like a war had gone on. Still the islanders
> smiled, had a kind word to say, and went out of
> their way to make us welcome. I hope the island
> never goes through that again. The island is
> beautiful again, I miss the old charm it had
> before, but hopefully if there is a next time the
> materials used to rebuild will withstand any other
> storms and make it a safer place while it happens.
> We were still glad we came. We have always come
> regardless. It makes you very aware of how a
> community can become close and work together to
> get out of a terrible situation.

Wow!! Powerful statements all. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and recollections with us, Sharon......I think all of us who can date ourselves pre-Luis have a hard time dealing with those memories and the impact they had on the island and on each of our memories.

The people of St. Maarten/St. Martin were amazing during that time and should be a lesson to all.....great things can happen when people pull together, all in the same direction, to accomplish a common cause.

Respectfully,

pat

I remember seeing this video before. It really was a horrible time. And, it's SO hard to describe the destruction to people who didn't see it. It was really unbelievable and horrific. Pictures don't even come close to doing it justice. The sounds (the eery quiet) and the smells (rotting seaweed and the dampness in the air) add to the visual perspective for sure.

Some of my pics from that time:

peace

Thought you weren't there when hit, maybe I'm wrong. But. oh, yeah, a ride I'll never forget.

I don't think it was stated anywhere in her post that she was here when it hit. The "eery quiet" sound and the smells quoted were afterward, not during, and it lasted weeks after the storm...It was disgusting, everything was only desolation.

Kind Regards,
Philippe



[www.facebook.com]

No, I wasn't there when it hit. (and you know that how?????,,,,, ) I was scheduled on the first commercial flight allowed in WITH passengers (only homeowners, business owners or residents with offical documents at the gate were allowed on the plane. I think there were only about 20 people or so on that flight) until our flight was canceled the night before b/c of Hurricane Marilyn. We were then rescheduled on the NEXT flight after Marilyn passed.

The eerie silence I was referring to was during the aftermath. No electricity means no airco, no radio, no fridge humming, etc. Sounds you kind of take for granted hearing until you don't hear them. Remember, back then very few people had generators - so you didn't even hear that humming.

As horrible as Luis was for SXM. for us Lenny was far more horrific.

peace

hey Andrea
I don't think you were on the first flight.
I was on that one..4 days after the hurricane. I think Marilyn was in our area about 10 days after Luis.
I think on that flight only legal residents were allowed on...home owners and business owners were not yet allowed back on the island..
I got back here 4 days after Luis hit.
I remember being on the plane and watching them load tons and tons of cargo on the plane including a lot of huge crates. I wondered what those huge crates were. A friend of mine said to me..you didn't bring a generator?..you know you are going to need a generator don't you?
oops! I bought all kinds of supplies but never thought of a generator.
We lived without a generator for a week or so I think until some supplier brought in a whole mess of them. We had to make reservations for them in advance because the whole island was clamoring for a generator.
That trusty generator when we finally got it carried us through 3 months of no electricity. I will never forget sitting on my porch watching darkness fall. The whole island was in darkness. Then you would see a light come on somewhere, then another and another and then the sound. The roar and hum of generators kicking in all over the island. We heard the sounds every night of those generators..for months!

So I wasn't here for the storm either but living through the aftermath sure makes you feel like you went through the storm too.

As I write this, a thousand stories come to mind. So 13 years later the memory of Luis is as fresh in my mind as though it happened yesterday.

Luis was by far the most horrific hurricane to ever hit St. Maarten, but I know for Andrea, Lenny was worse. That sucker came from the west, so her side of the island got more damage. Actually we got more damage at our house from Lenny than we got from Luis. Our whole large retaining wall collapsed from all the rain and crashed into our swimming pool area, destroying everything in its way.

[barcann.livejournal.com]

What - you don't remember sitting next to me on the plane? Huh, something makes me think I would remember you on my plane! Yep, you are right B, I miss typed. I was on the first plane after Marilyn (yes, 10 days after Lenny). We were supposed to be on the first available flight in for passengers (other than just you residents) but AA kept calling each day and saying, "not yet". Then finally they called and said we FINALLY could get on a flight (but only with proper docs) and then we get a midnight phone call that they cannnot fly us the next morning in b/c Marilyn was on it's way. So, 3 more days of waiting - again.

I'll never forget getting to our connection in MIA with a handful of VERY nervous residents, homeowners, and business owners waiting to board. And, there comes this gorgeous Brazilian girl ready to hop on the plane. Uh, the gate agent asked where she was going. "To St. Maarten on vacation!" she joyfully replied. Oh dear, the girl had NO clue that 2 hurricanes just came through. Of course, she was not allowed on the plane.

I still get sick to my stomach remembering looking out the window as we landed and seeing the awful sight below. I remember a lot of gasping and "oh my God...." I think those few of us on the plane all looked like we wanted to vomit.

peace

Didn't go thru Luis either but. I remember going to the villa I used to stay at in Monte Vista the following July. Was horrified at the damage months later. Took pics of OB, all the blue tarps on ALL the houses. WAs scheduled to leave the island on Mon. 2AM Mon. morning Bertha came through. I remember the water by Chesterfields the night before went from beautiful blue to grey, was washing large boulders on the road past Chesterfields. Anyhow spent the Mon AM in a closet with a matress over us. The roof was made of the orange clay tiles. I always thought the wind would just blow them away, NOT, they just came loose and danced around the roof. I remember when the eye came over I went outside and did some filming of the damage. The bushes and trees were bent over to the left. As the hurricane proceded through it then bent the bushes over to the right. Back to the closet. The next day we thought about breakfast BUT no radio or television to find out if the storm was over, little gas in the rental car, no food in the villa, no electricity to pump water out of the cistern, only Heineken in the fridge getting hot. Ironicaly the phones worked. Went to OB and took picks again and watche the workers shovel sand out of Kontiki. Was 2 days later we found a reataurant that just opened ( Coconuts) was just cooking on a gas grill chicken and hamburgers. Finally got a flight out on Thurs.
Went to SXM the following year on in Nov. HAd dinner at de Livios on a Sat night went home a few days later Lenny came through and no more Livios.

Still remember the following years of the island trying to recover. Especially the boats washed up on the curve by the airport.

Did a long weekend in Cayman was leaving on a Mon again. Went to lunch in a restaurant on a second floor balcony. Remember then the water turning blue to grey the mint from the waves made us move our table inward to keep from getting wet. But the 2 PM flight made it out somehow.

SXMWendell

Just a BTW - I was addressing Barbara concerning her not being on the island at the time. She and I have had that discussion a while ago. Andrea you jumped to the conclusion that I was talking about you and I wasn't.

Th storm was absolutely horrifying. To sit 6-8 hours in the eye wall, with wind gusts up to 200 MPH. To stay in the same room for 36 hours while riding out the storm, you only can think of what will it be like when you are able to leave your room.

The fear that my Mom-In-Law felt when she realized we were in the middle of it.

The comments from the military that OB looked like the fall of Danaag. Uncontrollably, I just cried when walking the beach the day after.

When did I want to vomit, when people (yes Americans, of which I am ashamed) were VERY upset that they weren't being treated better after the storm - not that they (and I quote) wanted room service, but the demands were off the wall; especially in light of the early reports that 3000 were left homeless on the French side alone. Glad the French military seized our resort area (Golden Tulip) and shut them up. Plus the K-Rations they brought to us, absolutely great. Never knew I could cook Shepard's Pie or Boullinaise using sterno.

The comic, after the storm, my husband started his shower in one of the remaining showers, only to have it stop raining while still all soaped up. Bubble Boy, until another shower came thru.

The good, the camaraderie among EVERYONE (well almost everybody); nobody any better than the next guy and most people willing to work together to turn this thing around. Trading water for gas, gas for water. Such simplicity. More good, the forced departure of the illegals, God, the island had to take care of it's own, compelling those that should not be there to be sent back to their home islands. What a cleansing time for the island. I remember it was simple, you didn't have papers to be here, you boat is over there, bye bye.

We returned 6 months later (and 6 months,after that, for years.) We were thanked for our confidence in the island to recover; defended her on message boards when she was being slammed by people intolerate of the island's slow recovery.

But that was then, this is now. Corporations and others taking advantage of the those who wish to visit her shores: Atrium, Divi, Sapphire, new owners of Club O; all because of poor management and forgetting what hospitality means.

Guess it's a cycle, hope it turns soon.