Continental Airlines resumes service today, Sept.23 and USAir continues its weekend flights beginning this Saturday. Inter-island air service between St. Maarten and the Leeward Islands also resumes today. Ferry service will resume based on the calming of ocean swells and each destination's ability to receive passengers. Electricity to the remaining residential areas should be fully restored within the next two weeks.
Water is already available island wide.
Today it's business as usual with shops, restaurants and hotels ready to extend their special brand of hospitality to cruise ship and air arrival passengers. The pictures can be found on this page . The strongest portion of the winds were around 6 AM with reports of speeds up to 160 mph in the Simpsonbay Lagoon area and 110 mph in the Philipsburg area. I am sure many people were relieved when the reports came in that the storm had dropped to 115 mph just before we were to feel the effects. In the early morning hours around 430AM some rescue crews and cleanup crews were already out clearing roads and moving debris.