Exactly. And I'm sure there's no power to the building any longer, so everything in the coolers, freezers, etc is going to be spoilage. Produce...gone.Wow....that's
an insurance claim nightmare.

Two claims within a year? Premiums? lol

A "tall mechanism with lots of water coming out" is generally an indication that the firefighters have gone into defensive mode and have given up on saving the structure. Cutting the roof is standard practice to vent the horizontal heat and flames vertically and then advance a hose line into the building to extinguish the fire. My guess is there was not major damage however because it's a food store, the stock will have to be replaced, hello insurance company, just what they need!

Hi Nick, I would have been happy to however we were at Leverick last Friday and just arrived in ATL on the way home.
G

When?

Hi Minys,
Just sent you a message.

Planning an itinerary is part of the fun. Since this is your first trip be mindful that flexibility is the key once you get started. Weather and other situations may impact your ability to hit your points. Also don’t rush it once you get there. The important thing is to have fun not make every stop on your agenda. If you are having a particularly great time somewhere consider staying a second night.

I've been following this group on Facebook, they put some interesting information on the clean up around the island. I thought you may be interested.

St. Maarten Nature Foundation
3 hrs ·
Nature Foundation Warns About Increased Potential for Large Scale Sargassum Invasion

The St. Maarten Nature Foundation is warning of a potential significant influx of Sargassum seaweed in the coming days: We have been coordinating our monitoring efforts with our partners in the region and based on weather predictions, sattelite imagery and aerial surveys there is a significant amount of the seaweed headed in our general vicinity.

We have been really trying to work both with our partners in the region and with local stakeholders to monitor the situation and to find a way to control the amount of the weed washing up on beaches in the case of a significant influx. In the case of an influx we need to find a way to coordinate the removal of the seaweed with heavy loaders which causes serious risks to nesting sea turtles and hatchlings while the grass itself can be a hazard to the animals. Uncoordinated seaweed removal can also cause significant erosion on affected beaches.

Economically speaking there is a serious effect that seagrass can have on the beaches of the island. As soon as the grass is cleared it is being deposited back on the beach by the wind and currents. We will continue to work towards researching the effects of the grass and some possible solutions but at this point Sint Maarten, like many islands in the Caribbean, are being heavily impacted.

Sargassum is a genus of brown (class Phaeophyceae) seaweed which is distributed throughout the temperate and tropical oceans of the world. Most of the Sargassum Seaweed lies concentrated in the Sargassum Sea, a region in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean surrounded by ocean currents. It is bounded on the west by the Gulf Stream; on the north, by the North Atlantic Current; on the east, by the Canary Current; and on the south, by the North Atlantic Equatorial Current.

Sargassum first plagued the Caribbean and St. Maarten in 2011 and 2012, with the Foundation having to warn swimmers to avoid swimming in Guana Bay in August and September due to the large amount of Sargassum Weed and many beach front residences and hotels having to continuously clean washed up Sargassum.

The Nature Foundation will continue to monitor the situation and will issue releases as information becomes available.

Yes, that was in the thread title.

I liked your observation about Corsairs, "the bill at Corsairs was kind of insane". Pretty funny since sailors funded the rebuilding, with Corsairs "Go Fund Me" account to the tune of over $100,000 US. Geeze.

I get ya. I agree on the glass.. I think that Bikini is supposed to be open by now, but we haven't been over to Orient recently.

I know what you mean. I was looking for a tall mechanism with lots of water coming out & more vehicles as well. Hope it's contained & not a major setback to the Carrefour. Really nice store! Loved it in January.

Great trip report and pictures. Glad to hear that Chez Leandra is once again serving food. It was closed the entire time we were there from June 3rd to 17th. We did eat lunch once at Sun clubber and it was good, however when we heard the food was prepared at Coda we walked down the beach to have lunch. Same menu, less in price and the food is on real plates and cutlery. I much prefer my wine in a glass rather than plastic. Haha ! That being said I think what Sun Clubber is doing is genius. Great service for people who do not want to leave the beach.
Thanks for all of the excellent pictures and for taking time to post.