TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin Please be careful what you post...

I know everyone is starving for information and wants to be able to post first hand video/reports/whatever from Irma. However, there have already been two instances of people posting videos that were NOT of Irma. Please do a bit of checking yourself before posting videos/reports/etc, if possible, and if you do post a report/video/etc, please post a source, if possible. Thanks for your cooperation.

3 am. Lots of noise. Still have WIFI. A surprise.

Pictures on FB - devastation beyon believe. Not much left on Marigot market plaza area, substantial damage to Sarafina's and surrounded buildings.

Where is the link on Facebook? Thanks.

Please, EVERYBODY, don't just slap up a link to something you see on social media until you are sure it is dealing with SXM. There are numerous posts and videos that are turning out NOT to be from SXM.

I was listening to 1010 WINS news channel this am, about 7:15 and a woman was in Simpson Bay Marina Resort, she said a lot of water coming thru the doors, even though they were meant to be hurricane resistant ...and sounded as if someone was banging on the door...but she not mention any thing else..God speed help to everyone EVERYWHERE

Oh Boy!! After all those millions they just spent on renovations. Hope they paid the insurance.

Insurance (scams or lack of) is usually an issue when it comes to situations like this.

Find the "SMN News" page on Facebook where there are 42 post-hurricane photographs posted. I believe most on this site will easily recognize various SXM locations. Very sad.

I know that was their downfall previously.

There is also a lot of misinformation. I've seen press posts saying the island and the airport are "destroyed" which is total nonsense; damaged, yes, but certainly not destroyed. Crazy stuff.

Can't blame anybody at this moment for overly emotional responses.

Sometimes things DO get "destroyed". Percentage may be off a tad but the concept is there

French St. Martin

In conjunction with wanting factual information, PLEASE take a minute or two to see what has already been posted. I know this is stressful and impacting all of us in many different ways, some way more than others. If something has already been posted with a link, there is no need to post the same thing again. The board was slow yesterday, it seemed better this morning but is now slowing down a little as more people get on. If there are a lot of duplicate posts, it may worsen the problem and then nobody benefits.

Thank you.

I am going to try to compile a damage list later when more VERIFIABLE information is available on various places, so that people don't post the same questions over and over. However, a "I saw on the internet" that thus and so has happened isn't good enough. Will try to use only sources that I feel are verified. Will work on that later today.

Thanks! I know a lot of the same pictures are showing up all over the internet and being re-posted without permission. That is up to the people posting them but I do think it is important to have factual and verifiable information and links and not multiple posts of the same thing.

Why is this so important to you? It seems that MARKETING THE ISLAND IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN HUMAN SUFFERING. Of course, people aren't going to get things EXACTLY correct in the beginning, but that is to be expected. SHAMEFUL!!!!

I think you may have misinterpreted the message......you could maybe make a negative critique about being overcautious with usage rights and verifiableness of information but that is the owners and moderators of the forum prerogative.......I personally think that type of thinking and etiquette is sorely missed in the modern internet. These accusations are offensive.

Marketing the island??? Really?? You have no clue. No, the point is not to post FALSE information. "EXACTLY correct???" How about FALSE reports of Mary's Boon being "gone" and Beachside Villas being "gone". Your post is offensive to me personally and to anyone who loves ST. Maarten/ST. Martin.

I'm really beat and I'm going to bed now before I say anything more.

You are way off base. How about getting as much factual information out as possible, not having multiple threads/posts going about the same topic (which justs adds to the confusion) and not repeating "hearsay" without facts to back it up.

I think TTOL has done a great job of both trying to deal with human suffering AND marketing the island when the time is proper. If the island is not "marketed", the local population suffers due to lack of business.

There have been multiple instances of incorrect information posted and that benefits nobody.

Wow. Or you could have just said thank you Carol, Eric, and JD for the most robust reporting of the situation in SXM on the web. Wow.