Devastation was the scene of Grand Bahama on Monday, where Hurricane Frances left scores of people homeless, and some could only claim the clothes on their backs.
The “monster” hurricane ravaged the entire island on Saturday, uprooting trees, snapping electricity poles, and de-shingling homes. Telephone communication on the island was non-existent. And although Frances had been downgraded to Category Two when it hit Grand Bahama on Saturday, it ferociously pounded the island for hours, as if to eternally etch its mark on the minds of residents.
Unable to access the Grand Bahama International Airport until the water on its runway was gone, The Guardian news team along with Prime Minister Perry Christie and technical people arrived in Grand Bahama on Monday. However, the reality of devastation became clear once the domestic sections were entered.
Hundreds of trees, draped with seaweed and debris, lined the interior of the old and new domestic sections of the airport. A water mark of some six to eight inches bore evidence of the level of flooding by a surge estimated at some six feet.
Sophia Clarke, a security officer at the airport, told of how the entire domestic section was “no more.” All equipment in the building, including the x-ray machine, the conveyor belt, and monitors were ruined. Airport businesses were also destroyed.
On the outside, aluminum hurricane shutters erected to protect the glass of the airport were strewn across the walkway, mixed with broken glass and seaweed. The international section of the airport experienced severe flooding.
However, the heart-wrenching pain of suffering and loss was not felt until assessors arrived in West End, where The Guardian found homeless residents. Every home or business in the area had some evidence of Frances’ visit, while every building near the sea had been virtually destroyed.
The entire settlement of West End was under water, and homes were demolished. Foliage, conch shells, and debris lined the roads, while some residents sat huddled outside on the plot of land where their houses once stood, not owing a pillow on which to lay their heads.
Laura Nixon told The Guardian of how her family lost their 10-room Bay Shore Road dwelling. She said although they evacuated the home before Frances arrived, her father who did not want to leave, stayed to “ride out the storm.”
“That was no Category Two storm, and my daddy thought he could ride out the storm because a lot of people did not think the water would come up that high and that it would be so powerful. But it was a vacuum cleaner that cleaned the whole town,” she said. Ms Nixon added that her father said he escaped injury by a nine-foot tide that had gushed into their house. Mr Nixon was not at home at the time of The Guardian’s visit.
Ms Nixon said of all her hurricanes experienced in Grand Bahama, Frances was by far the worst. The gaping hole in the Nixon home allowed all of its soaked contents to be viewed from the road. Family members shouted that they had nowhere to stay and that other family members “had their own problems.”
The home of Ms Nixon’s neighbour, who only wanted to identify herself as Andrea, was totally flattened. She and her fianc� had also failed to evacuate. “When I saw that tide rushing in, I thought we all were going to drown,” she said.
Marilyn Newmann, another resident who lost her home, expressed anger because West End MP, Obie Wilchcombe, and Prime Minster Christie and other Cabinet ministers did not stop to personally visit her family. “They did not stop; all they did was slow down and look. What kind of MP he is?” Ms Newmann said.
Prime Minster Christie said he could not imagine the kind of damage witnessed in West End. He said the immediate challenge for the government, in addition to providing water and food to West End residents, was to provide accommodation. He said the government along with the private sector must also provide some temporary housing while a strategy to rebuilt West End is formulated.
“Clearly, we are talking about total renewal of an entire community on the island of Grand Bahama. In my travels in the southern Bahamas, we thought we saw very difficult building circumstances and personal loss in San Salvador, but when we came here, we were rendered speechless,” said the Prime Minster.
The Prime Minister said the government cannot displace families; therefore, its ultimate objective is to restore the West End community.
Mr Christie also mentioned that assistance was rendered to residents of Grand Bahama as early as Tuesday, when a Bahamasair airline arrived with donated water and canned goods from Jamaica. He also said a water barge was being outsourced to Grand Bahama, and the Old Bahama Bay Resort in West End has agreed provide meals to West End residents.
The damage in Grand Bahama remains to be inspected with the assistance of an Atlantis helicopter, the Prime Minister said.
Tamara McKenzie, The Nassau Guardian
