A year after suffering from twin hurricanes, the Caribbean islands most impacted by Irma and Maria are trying to make a comeback as coveted vacation destinations.
From Sept. 5 to 8 last year, Hurricane Irma roared through the Caribbean as a Category 5 storm. It caused significant destruction to a large swath of the Caribbean, including Barbuda, Anguilla, Saint Martin (Sint Maarten), the British and U.S. Virgin Islands, Barbados, and Turks and Caicos. It ended its run in the southeastern USA, causing damage in Florida, especially in the Keys.
Hurricane Maria followed two weeks later, wreaking the most havoc on Puerto Rico.
At least 134 deaths have been attributed to Irma. The number of deaths caused by Maria are still in dispute. Hotels, homes, restaurants and airports were pummeled.
For Caribbean islands so largely dependent on tourism, the hurricanes were devastating. Even islands that were not completely wiped out had to deal with the public perception that the Caribbean was closed for business. Six of the region’s destinations are still recovering from the hurricanes, says Frank Comito, director general and CEO of the Caribbean Hotel and Tourism Association.
More than 75 percent of the Caribbean escaped the paths of the hurricanes and have been fully operational since, Comito says. The Caribbean has 33 countries and independently governed territories.
“As destructive as Hurricanes Irma and Maria were, they had a significant impact on about 25 percent of our territories,” Comito says. “The rest? Largely untouched.”
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