Unbiased look at the Sint Maarten Elections
St. Maarten – Hurricane Danny lost power over the weekend and is now a tropical storm. Nevertheless, the meteorological services expect the storm to bring winds of 80 to 100 kilometer per hour on Monday. The government on the Dutch side has ordered all business to close by 10 p.m. on Sunday, including restaurants and casinos, until further notice. School and daycare centers are closed on Monday.
All government departments will remain closed on Monday as well.
The courthouse is also closed on Monday. Administrative, bankruptcy and criminal cases have been moved to September 1. Tuesday’s court session in Statia has also been moved to September 1.
Prime Minister Gumbs will address the nation Monday at noon with an update about the situation.
The Royal Dutch Navy has sent marines to St. Maarten to assist with the aftermath of the storm.
In the meantime, businesses and private citizens have been taking their measures in anticipation of the bad weather. Boats have been taken out of the water and businesses that had no hurricane shutters boarded up their windows, as the pictures from our photographer Milton Pieter show.
At 5 p.m. yesterday, tropical storm Danny was 315 miles east-south-east of Guadeloupe. The storm is expected to hit the island during the night or early tomorrow morning.
On the French side, President Aline Hanson has advised citizens to stay at home. The Collectivité  opens three hurricane shelters at 5 a.m. tomorrow morning for citizens living in flood prone areas. They are located at the Hervé Williams 2 school on the road to Spring, the Catholic Church in Grand Case and primary school 2 in French Quarter on the Rue Corossol.
