SXM Festival launches campaign to rebuild St. Martin in the wake of Hurricane Irma

It's been a rough hurricane season this year, with the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey in Houston, Texas still fresh on everyone's minds, yet another major category five hurricane named Irma is currently affecting the Caribbean islands and Florida.

The results have already been devastating and even fatal (already 13 deaths reported), specifically for the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Turks and Caicos and St. Martin.

Hurricane Irma has been reported as one of the strongest ever recorded in the Atlantic. Images of the devastation show cars piled, houses destroyed and major flooding.

SXM Festival, a boutique destination festival hosted annually in March on St. Martin, has launched a fundraising campaign to help rebuild the infrastructure of the island. "Our hearts are with everyone who has been affected by this massive storm and to those who are in her path," the GoFundMe page reads. "At this time we are concentrating our efforts in raising funds to assist with the basic needs of our brothers and sisters on Saint Martin as we are intimately connected to the people and the island."

According to the campaign, 95 per cent of the island's infrastructure has been destroyed by Hurricane Irma and electricity and water services have been stopped. Organizers of the festival explain that because they are in such close contact with the island government, they are able to accurately assess their needs and direct the funding as it comes in.

Find more info and donate here.