This study focuses on the ongoing recovery of the French part of the island of Saint Martin following Hurricane Irma in September 2017. The recovery of this semi-autonomous territory is a major challenge for local authorities and the French state. Based on the hypothesis that the consequences of natural disaster would be an opportunity for a territory to build back better, this study aims to understand the recovery trajectory that is underway on the island of Saint Martin 2 years after Hurricane Irma. Our analysis of Saint Martin’s recovery from natural hazards is based on three factors: (1) the historical context and the evolution of building construction over the past 70 years; (2) the organization of local and national authorities; (3) the perception of the situation by the population. This original interdisciplinary approach of the post-disaster recovery phase provides a better understanding of the complexity of this period. The results of this study and the cross-analysis of these three methods highlight the causal links between the governance of the reconstruction, the psycho-sociological recovery of the disaster victims, and the history of the urbanization of an island exposed to natural hazards.

Les ouragans sont relativement courants dans les Antilles et sur l’île de Saint-Martin en particulier. L’incapacité des sociétés à faire face à ce genre d’évènement et à s’en relever interroge. Dans cette étude, nous montrons que l’île de Saint-Martin a dû s’adapter entre 1954 et 2017 (avant l’ouragan Irma) à de nombreuses contraintes, dont certaines d’une ampleur bien plus importante que les ouragans. Ainsi en l’espace de presque 70 ans, la densité de population de la partie française de Saint-Martin est passée de 75 habitants par kilomètre carré à 668 habitants par kilomètre carré. La majeure partie de cette augmentation s’est produite en l’espace de 5 ans, suite à une loi de défiscalisation qui a favorisé l’investissement immobilier à partir de 1986 : la loi Pons. Plus de 12 000 bâtiments ont été construits à Saint-Martin pour accueillir les nouveaux habitants de l’île, mais aussi les touristes. De nombreux quartiers ont connu une croissance importante qui a débuté à la fin des années 1980. Cependant, on observe des spécificités dans l’urbanisme qui résultent de la très forte ségrégation sociale et territoriale qui règne sur l’île entre, d’un côté, les résidences privées des quartiers aisés et de l’autre les quartiers populaires, avec des habitations plus vulnérables. Les ouragans ont eu pour effet de renforcer les inégalités datant des années 1960-1980 en affectant plus particulièrement les habitats fragiles des populations les plus pauvres. Ces inégalités sont également accentuées par les sociétés qui accordent plus d'aides à la reconstruction aux personnes mieux insérées socialement.

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Abstract. The disaster management cycle is made up of three phases: 1) the prevention during the pre-disaster time 2) the crisis management during the disaster then 3) the post-disaster recovery. Both the "pre-disaster" time and the "crisis" are the most studied phases and tap into the main resources and risk management tools. The post-disaster period is complex, poorly understood, least anticipated, and is characterized by the implication of a wide range of people who have a vested interest. In most cases, the collective will is to recover the initial state, without learning from the disaster. Nevertheless, the post-disaster period could be seen as an opportunity to better reorganize the territory to reduce its vulnerability in anticipation of future flood events. To explore this hypothesis, this work consists in analyzing the post-flood phase from a bibliographical work and the detailed study of 3 disaster areas. These results will lead us to better understand the concept of "recovery" in the post-disaster phase.

With the concept of "build back better", the United Nations emphasizes the importance of the recovery phase following a natural hazard as an opportunity to implement vulnerability reduction measures. This work here focuses on the ongoing recovery of the French part of island of St. Martin following hurricanes Irma in September 2017. The recovery of this semi-autonomous territory is a major challenge for the local authorities and for the French State. The current state of post-disaster recovery shows the difficulties of reconciling the two imperatives of "rebuild faster" and "rebuild better", in a context of social, political and media pressure. Therefore, what conditions would be necessary to take advantage of this key moment and make the small island more resilient to a new event? What do we learn from this experience for the management of the recovery?