Looters Terrorizing Hotel Guests and Tourists on Hurricane-Devastated St. Maarten

A man looks over the devastation of Hurricane Irma on the Dutch Caribbean island of Sint Maarten. GERBEN VAN ES/AFP/Getty Images

Reports of armed looters have emerged from hurricane-stricken St. Maarten, the southern half of a Caribbean island shared with the French territory of St. Martin.

The U.S. government, which has no embassy on the island, is trying to get the 5,000 American tourists on St. Maarten to safety. St. Maarten has been independent since 2010, but is still a commonwealth country of the Netherlands.