This is the scene at the world-famous St Maarten airport after giant waves driven by Hurricane Irma lashed the beach where planes land just over tourists’ heads.
Dramatic aerial pictures show sand heaped up at the end of the international Princess Juliana terminal which has been ravaged by the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic.
The storm ripped through the airport on Wednesday, with 185mph winds blowing over safety fences and battering nearby Maho beach.
Huge rocks smashed into planes, and boarding walkways were slammed to the ground by the downpour of rain and gusts of wind, which also brought mounds of sand on to the runway.
The storm, which has been dubbed one of the most powerful Atlantic storms in a decade, has reportedly killed at least eight people on St Martin so far.
Dramatic aerial pictures show sand heaped up at the end of the international Princess Juliana terminal which has been ravaged by the most powerful hurricane ever recorded in the Atlantic
The island’s airport was ravaged by the powerful winds with aerial pictures showing how infrastructure had been damaged
Video footage shows the moment the storm ripped through Princess Juliana International Airport in St Maarten’s, with 185mph winds blowing over safety fences and battering nearby Maho beach
Huge rocks smashed into planes, and boarding walkways were slammed to the ground by the downpour of rain and gusts of wind, which also brought loads of sand on to the runway
Princess Juliana Airport, pictured in the midst of the storm, suspended all operations at the airport on Tuesday as a precaution before Hurricane Irma hit
Video from the live Maho Beach camera showed fences being blown over as the storm passed
Inside the airport, which lies on the Dutch side of Saint Martin island, the check-in lounge was flooded and walkways were damaged by the storm.
Parts of the building broke off during the storm and were seen lying on the runway after the storm passed.
Photos of the damage were documented by a hurricane rescue team, who went in after the storm passed.
Princess Juliana Airport suspended all operations at the airport on Tuesday as a precaution before Hurricane Irma hit.
Michel Hyman, COO/Acting CEO of the airport, said in a statement: ‘We regret any inconvenience this will cause, but must stress that the safety and security of all is priority number one at SXM Airport.’
‘We will continue to closely monitor the developments of Hurricane Irma as it passes over our area and keep all our personnel, users and stakeholders informed of any further developments as these occur, via the various media outlets,’ stated Hyman.
Inside the airport, which lies on the Dutch side of Saint Martin island, the check-in lounge was flooded and walkways were damaged by the storm
Tourists have flocked to the beach for years to watch as planes fly shockingly low before landing at Princess Juliana International Airport
When landing at Princess Juliana International Airport, planes fly directly over beach goers at Maho Beach (pictured above)
Winair cancelled its services on Tuesday and Wednesday, saying it would work to re-book customers’ flights at no additional cost.
Hurricane Irma has caused torn off rooftops and knocked out all electricity across Saint Martin, as well as on the French island of Saint Barthelemy.
So far the hurricane has killed at least two people and left two others seriously injured on St Barts and St Martin, French Overseas Minister Annick Giradin told CNN.
‘The urgency is to provide aid, to treat, to evacuate if necessary, but above all to make an assessment of the situation, which we do not have today since the communications are just beginning to return,’ she said.
Banks on St Martin closed on Tuesday ahead of the storm, while WTN-Cable management dismantled its sites to avoid irreparable damage.
All sites will return to normal after the storm passes and authorities give the go-ahead for people to move around the island.
France has requisitioned planes and sent in emergency food and water rations.
So far emergency crews have not surveyed the damage from overhead because the winds are still considered to be too strong for an attempt.
President Donald Trump owns a property in St Martin – Le Chateau des Palmiers, which is currently up for sale.
It is unknown if his property was damaged by the storm.
The Category 5 storm made a direct hit Wednesday on Saint Martin, the island where the Dutch territory of St Maarten is located. Some 100 Dutch marines flew to the islands on Monday to prepare for the hurricane.
Pictured is Maho beach in front of Princess Juliana Airport that tourists normally flock to to watch the low-flying planes which is now completely flooded and washed out
Hurricane rescue teams evaluated the damage at the airport after the storm passed on Wednesday
Photo shows the wind and rain ripping apart fencing at Princess Juliana on Wednesday afternoon
A photo of inside Princess Juliana airport in St Martin only partially show the extent of the flooding and damage that Irma has done
Parts of the building had broken off during the storm and were seen lying on the runway after the storm passed
Hurricane Irma has caused torn off rooftops and knocked out all electricity across Saint Martin (pictured), as well as on the French island of Saint Barthelemy
Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne said his twin-island nation appears to have weathered its brush with Hurricane Irma.
He said there were no deaths in Antigua and preliminary reports indicated there were no deaths in Barbuda despite widespread reports of damaged buildings and downed trees. He said he plans to visit as soon as possible.
Hurricane Irma is roaring along a path pointing to Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Cuba before possibly heading for Florida over the weekend.
President Donald Trump declared emergencies in Florida, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, and authorities in the Bahamas said they would evacuate the residents of six islands at the southern end of the island chain amid fears the hurricane is hurtling towards the US east coast.
A mandatory evacuation is under way in the Florida Keys.
Puerto Rico is currently preparing for landfall of the storm, which is expected to happen late Wednesday night or early Thursday.
It is expected to downgrade to a Category four hurricane on Friday, and a Category three in the weekend when it nears Florida.
National Weather Service Director Louis Uccellini said that Hurricane Irma is so record-breaking strong it’s impossible to hype.
Uccellini said on Wednesday that he’s concerned about Florida up the east coast to North Carolina, starting with the Florida Keys.
He warns that ‘all the hazards associated with this storm’ are going to be dangerous.
Hurricane expert Kerry Emanuel of MIT calculates that Irma holds about 7 trillion watts – about twice the energy of all bombs used in World War II.
Irma is expected to downgrade to a Category four hurricane on Friday, and a Category three in the weekend when it nears Florida
A man in Puerto Rico stands in the ocean during the passing of Irma on Wednesday afternoon