“One has the impression of being in a war”

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Marigot, the largest town of Saint-Martin, the French side of the island, was devastated by the sea and the wind.

Anne Caroline Desplanques

Wednesday, September 6, 2017 23:30

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Wednesday, September 6, 2017 23:30

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Residents of Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthélemy, where Irma was struck, Wednesday, have had the feeling of being at the heart of a war.

“This is Hiroshima,” describes Alex Jacqua, from Saint-Barthélemy, the sister island of St. Martin, the local chain Guadeloupe 1ère. It was then the first hours of the disaster, barricaded in his residence.

“One has the impression of being in a war. The wind makes big booms. We hear lots of noises everywhere, ” described the man, the commercial director of the airline company Air Antilles Express.

“The house vibrates, it moves “, he continued.

Communications with the island were then shut off for several hours.

On the nearby island of Saint-Martin, Laurent Petit has also described in the Journal of the noises of war, buzzes and knocks.

The roofs fly away

“There has been a lot of roofs that were stolen. There is a lot of sheet metal everywhere, ” he narrated.

“The house of my grandparents, the roof was completely ripped off,” explained Alexander Peter in interview to the Newspaper.

This first aider will leave Paris this morning to try to find his family with whom he lost contact during the disaster. His parents were forced to leave their home in the heart of hell.

People in refugee shelters anti-cyclonic de Saint-Martin had to evacuate in a full cyclone, because their shelter was not held in strength Irma, according to the daily Le Parisien.

We will meet

But, Laurent Petit, who has lived the last four hurricanes have struck the archipelago, reported that he found less damage after the period of confinement during the passage of hurricane Luis in 1995. Luis had nine dead and nearly a thousand homeless.

Always cut the electricity and water, the Holy Martinois is sure that his island will rise quickly.

“The fire brigade and the gendarmerie are in the streets doing the necessary,” he said.