via Journal de Saint Barth (pdf)

So, the Omar hurricane is now away from Saint Barth (about 300 km), strength decreasing very rapidly.

Some pictures below from Saint Barth during and after the hurricane.

Le Journal de Saint Barth, the weekly newspaper from the island (in French), was publishing the first information about the damages:

• Nobody injured
• Wind of 140 km/h and about 50mm of rain within some hours, hurricane didn’t pass directly on Saint Barth but about 50 km away in the night of Wednesday to Thursday
• The real problem was the extremely strong swell coming from the SW, which is a very atypical orientation
• Production of water stopped, it will take weeks to reach the normal production again (one meter of water in the plant!)
• People can again circulate all around the island, roads are re-opened
• Schools re-opened on coming Monday
• Harbor is heavily hit, wharfs destroyed, 5 boats have sunk, thereof 2 in the harbor!
• The Corossol, Shell and Colombier beaches seem to be very affected by the strong swell, part of the sand is just gone there…
• Airport re-opened

via Tim, living in Saint Barth, and moderator of the “Insiders’ guide to St. Barths” forum

The little airplanes soaring into the sky all day here were a perfect metaphor for SBH’s soaring efforts toward a speedy recovery from Hurricane Omar. Government services returned as both trash and recycling were picked up on schedule this morning. Gustavia, the hardest hit, was hopping with activity that was not slowed at all by this afternoon’s rain:

• Dead vehicles that were Omarred were being hauled quickly away by wreckers.
• The portion of the dock not totally Omarred was being removed by a crane.
• Trucks full of rocks, trucks full of debris, trucks full of muck(muck-trucks) were scurrying from Gustavia to unload their loads and return for more.
• The veggies in Omar’s soup(aka seaweed) were being fished out of the harbor by a half dozen boats filled with energetic fishermen using rakes. The boats were being piled high with the grass and then unloaded elsewhere.
• Firemen were spraying down and sweeping the remaining muck from Gustavia’s streets.

There will be many tasks remaining, but the big question right now seems to be whether the cleanup will be complete by party time Saturday evening. Even Shell Beach, which has lost a lot of sand, doesn’t look near as bad today after the water receded to a more normal level. It gives one a good feeling all over to see such positive energy, a characteristic that has always been the trademark of St. Barth’s self-reliant people.

Good luck to everybody there for the coming days!