The two northernmost French islands in the Antilles arc, as well as the smallest, form a meteorological territory known as the “Northern Islands” due to their proximity. Saint-Martin (SXM) has approximately 2 inhabitants in the French part and 35.000 more in the Dutch part, covering an area of approximately 4.000 km². Saint-Barthélemy, for its part, has a little over 93 inhabitants and covers an area of approximately 9.000 km².
Their exposure to the risk of cyclones is high due to their location north of the West Indies but their very small size means that they are much less affected than Guadeloupe and almost as much as Martinique. However, we note that the systems which pass over Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthelemy are globally more violent than those of the other French islands of the Antilles.
Of the 16 cyclones whose center passed over or near Saint-Martin and / or Saint-Barthelemy, there were 5 tropical storms (or downgraded), 5 category 1 hurricanes, 1 major category 3 hurricane, 2 major hurricanes of category 4 and 1 major hurricane of category 5, the infamous Irma in 2017.
he most significant cyclones on Saint-Martin and Saint-Barth
It is undoubtedly about Irma in 2017. Passed over the Northern Islands in category 5 with sustained winds for 1 minute at 155 kts (287 km / h) and over 175 kts (more than 320 km / h) in a burst, it left indelible traces both in people’s minds and in infrastructure.
The human toll, subject to major controversy, reports 10 deaths, 7 missing and 247 injured for the French part and 2 deaths and 43 injured in the Dutch part. The material toll rises to the astronomical figure of 2 billion for 2 such small territories in terms of insurance. Irma and the 3rd most violent cyclone (ex-eaquo) in the Atlantic basin and has many grim records.
Unfortunately it is not the only cyclone to have hit Saint-Martin and Saint-Barthelemy very hard. Other hurricanes of sad memory have affected these territories in the past, including the unimaginable Lenny which crossed the entire Caribbean Sea in 1999 in the “wrong direction” to stop on the Northern Islands in Cat.3 then 2, but also another devastating system, Luis in 1995 or more recently Gonzalo which was very badly anticipated by weather organizations in 2014.