At this point, IMHO, the terminal building should be stripped to the steel and rebuilt, which is a 2-year project at best. If it isn't, there will be perpetual problems, some of them health-related. The outfall from a 2-year project will limit flights to SXM for years to come, and will present price and capacity challenges for visitors who would like to return sooner.

I leave any questions as to whether or not damage, reconstruction, and recovery could have been limited by earlier intervention to the people of Sint Maarten. They're the "boots on the ground" who know better than any of us what was possible, and what wasn't.

And then there is the discussion of Hotel/TImeshare reconstruction...