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 PHILIPSBURG--Tropical Storm Erika passed St. Maarten/St. Martin on Thursday without any major incident. There were some reports of minor wind damage. All government services and schools resume as of today after Thursday’s closure due to the passing of the storm.

St. Maarten was spared any damage to property or loss of life as the storm passed. However, the island of Dominica did not fare as well; that island sustained extensive property damage and the tragic loss of at least four lives in floodwaters accumulated from rain dumped by Erika on the very mountainous country.

Today, Friday, was deemed “a normal business day” by Prime Minister Marcel Gumbs when he gave the “all clear” for reopening on Thursday evening.

Princess Juliana International Airport SXM halted operations on Thursday because of the heavy winds and gusts. The airport is back in full operation today.

Leeward Islands Air Transport (LIAT), which connects St. Maarten with Dominica, announced that all fights into and out of that island have been cancelled until further notice due to flooding of the runway at Dominica’s Douglas-Charles Airport. All flights north of Antigua remained cancelled up to press time.

Affected passengers are asked by the airline to monitor its website

www.liat.com, Facebook and Twitter feeds for updated information.

Utilities company GEBE stayed true to its pledge to provide electricity and water throughout the passing of the storm. Up the press time, only sections of Middle Region appeared to have experienced power loss due to a downed high tension cable. The company’s crew worked on restoring power as soon as the gusty conditions calmed down.

St. Maarten/St. Martin remained under tropical storm warning up to 8:30pm on Thursday. However, Gumbs gave the all clear at 6:00pm for restaurants and casinos to reopen. Gumbs ordered all businesses in the country closed at midnight Thursday.

There was some confusion about the tropical storm warning late last night. The Miami-based National Hurricane Center stated in its 8:00pm bulletin that the Meteorological Service of St. Maarten (MDS) “has discontinued” the tropical storm warning for St. Maarten, while the MDS’ “Special Weather Bulletin” issued at 8:30pm was headlined “Tropical storm warning remains in effect for St. Maarten.”

Gumbs said in his 6:00pm Thursday press statement that the warning was still in place, because the country would continue to experience some gusty to near gale force winds from time to time. Erika was expected to produce some heavy rainfall last night into this morning. Hillside residents were told to exercise caution after heavy rainfall.

Gumbs called on residents to remain vigilant, because the hurricane season is not yet over, “We still have three more months to go through.”

He thanked residents, visitors, and the business community for their understanding and cooperation. “The measures that have been taken were of a precautionary nature in order to ensure the safety of the community and our visitors,” said Gumbs.

The Court of First Instance was closed on Thursday and will resume operations today. All court sessions scheduled for Thursday were postponed until further notice. Persons who require further information on their cases can call Shulaika Gustina at the Courthouse, tel. 546-6114 or fax 542-5451.

   Preparations for the passing of Erika led to the cancellation of an information session entitled “Breaking the Silence: Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect” that was scheduled in Belvedere Community Centre for Wednesday, August 26. The session will be rescheduled in the coming days.

The White and Yellow Cross Foundation is expected to resume its two-day care facilities – SBC Educational Facility and the Psychogeriatric day care – today, after Thursday’s closure.

St. Maarten Medical Center (SMMC) operating room, outpatient clinic, dialysis department and administrative department all reopen today.

Despite the closure on Thursday, dialysis patients scheduled for dialysis received treatment.