[IMG: Hurricane Georges making landfall on the Dominican Republic September 22, 1998; Credit: Dennis Chesters, Marit Jentoft-Nilsen, Craig Mayhew, and Hal Pierce, Laboratory for Atmospheres, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

The Caribbean Hurricane Page

Updates from the Islands
Georges - Antigua & Barbuda
http://www.gobeach.com/hurr.htm


Updates on the recovery progress of hotels and businesses in Antigua & Barbuda can be found on one of Nick Maley's websites: http://1-by-1.com/AntiguaNews (Updated daily)

Date: Tue, 13 Oct 1998 22:01:23 -0400
From: Nick Maley (maleyn@candw.ag)

The latest update about post hurricane georges is now posted at
     http://1-by-1.com/AntiguaNews

We have gathered a lot of info about most hotels although a few are still
unresponsive. The email I've gotten from travel agents and tourists has
underscored the need that this growing site fills. New updates about
twice weekly. Newsletter available.

The latest has detailed information about Royal Antiguan, Galley Bay, St.
James and English Harbour. By the week-end there will be more photos of
post Georges Antigua too.

regards Nick


Date: Mon, 05 Oct 1998 00:02:58 -0400 From: Nick Maley (maleyn@candw.ag) Update 0004 is up at http://1-by-1.com/AntiguaNews/index.html and provides news on the conditions at Royal Antiguan Hotel, THE INN at English Harbour, Rex Halcyon Cove, Galley Bay & St James, Dive Antigua, Crabbs Marina and the hotels on Dickenson & Runaway Bay. Theres also a report from the High Commissioner in London of missleading reports about Antigua's damage. Nick Maley
Date: Sun, 4 Oct 1998 14:12:40 +0400 (GMT) From: Alan B. Scholl (scholla@candw.ag) Subject: Power is back... Hi, Well APUA (Electricity) is moving swiftly. We got back power last night after 13 days of noisy environmentally unfriendly and very costly generator power. Water is back and although there are outages it is business as usual. So things are looking up overall. Hats off to the guys as they now have most of St.Johns and many other areas "lit up".
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1998 23:25:37 -0300 From: John Fuller (fullerj@candw.ag) Subject: GEORGES no rest for the weary (or wicked?) nice stuff coming our way-hope some rain.my mother's little hotel on beach on n. coast really trashed.been there since 1942-now not much.highest seas on n. coast in living memory.wave heights on shore at least 10 feet!sea came into rooms-floor level 10 feet above normal sea level.i was born there 1946 and never seen anything like it. reliable windspeed indicator read gust at 167mph.thank G. only 4-5 hours of it.
Date: Fri, 02 Oct 1998 09:18:48 -0400 From: Nick Maley (maleyn@candw.ag) Subject: News The third update at http://1-by-1.com/AntiguaNews will be posted latter today with news abour Mango Bay Hotel, Tradewinds Hotel & Beachcomber Hotel Nick
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 23:46:22 -0400 From: Nick Maley (maleyn@candw.ag) Subject: AntiguaNews update AntiguaNewsletter 0001 From Nick Maley, Island Arts Antigua To subscribe to this newsletter email AntiguaNews@CineSecrets.com or visit http://1-by-1.com/AntiguaNews ========================= I have to write this very quickly as we are preparing our downtown gallery for the return of Monarch of the Seas on Thursday and Norwegian Sea tomorrow. Its a token of Royal Caribbean's confidence in the good condition of the island that they are bringing in a $300M ship so soon. After hurricane Luis they waited 3 MONTHS! I picked up some after hurricane photos today and will start putting them online soon. They were processed courtesy of Benjies Photo center and Brown's Bay Villas. They clearly show that damage here is not that bad. I took several wide shots that show how few houses have serious damage. The shots of Jolly Harbour are so nice that it's hard to believe the storm was here only a week ago. ================ The official word from the tourist office about our hotels is pretty meager but I will add "observations" in due course. Here is what they say (with a few comments). Antigua Village Minimal damage. OPEN  Allegro Pineapple Beach Hotel Minimal damage to 40 rooms, in the process of cleaning up dining area which was hardest hit from water damage. OPEN   Antigua Beachcomber Hotel Some rooms sustain damage and are closed. OPEN Blue Waters Beach Hotel Minimal damage, mainly water. Opening 1 December, 1998 Club Antigua Minimal mainly water damage. Opening 21 November, 1998 Curtain Bluff Resort No structural damage, property will be open as scheduled. Openning 17 October, 1998 Coco's Closed for refurbishing   Dickenson Bay Cottages No damage report. OPEN Galleon Beach Club Some water damage. To open within 2 months.   Galley Bay No structural damage.  All buildings intact.  Little or no roof damage.  Good amount of water damage, property will need to ^"dry^' out. Opening 1 October, 1998  Halcyon Heights Minimal structural damage, hotel remains operational. OPEN Hawksbill Beach Resort Some structural and water damage. To open within 2 months. HBK Villa Rentals/Jolly Harbour Beach No structural damage, mainly water. OPEN Heritage Hotel Fully operational, some water damage to air conditioners. OPEN   The Inn at English Harbour Some damage, repairs necessary. To open within 2 months.  Joe Mike's Hotel Plaza Fully operational Jolly Harbour Water damage, plans to re-open within a few days. Mango Bay Hotel and Beach Club Minimal structural damage, currently operational. Property to confirm if they will close. OPEN   Marina Bay Beach Resort No water or structural damage reported. OPEN OPBM Time Sharing - Jolly Harbour Minimal damage. To be open in one week See my report tomorrow   Piggotsville Hotel Operational. OPEN   Rex Halcyon Cove Property closed today (Sept 23) until further notice. Closed until further notice. (Sounds bad doesn't it? I was there and only 4 or 5 rooms appear to have lost their roofs. The pool was drained already for refilling. The grounds contained a lot of garden debris that could be cleared in a matter of days. Their beach is perfect..... Nick)   Rex Blue Heron Property flooded, closed until further notice. Opening date forthcoming. (But the beach looks wonderful!)   Royal Antiguan No damage, will remain operational.  Some windows in lobby broken.  Damage to landscaping. OPEN (These guys did a great job of repairing their properties after LUIS. I heard no complaints, and I talk to thousands of tourists at Island Arts. I expect conditions there will be good when they re-open.....Nick)   Sandals (Antigua) Resort & Spa Minimal damage.  Mainly cosmetic.  Hotel will close for repairs due to water damage. Opening 1 December, 1998 (What I see of the hotel is mainly roof damage facing east. The grounds are already in above average condition. I feel sure that when they open they will be in very good shape. They already look in better shape than some places that are open. Their beach is perfect..... Nick)   Siboney Beach Club Fully operational. OPEN   Sunsail Club Colonna Minimal damage. Opening 7 November, 1998 St. James^"s Club No major structural damage some buildings lost portions of their roofs.  Quite a bit of water damage.  Property will be closed for at least 30 days. Opening 21 October, 1998 (tentative) Stephendale Hotel No structural damage, but no electricity. OPEN ============== HALF MOON BAY BEACH Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 08:42:02 -0300 This frank report from MARTHA WATKINS GILKES (gilkesm@candw.ag) Organization: FANTA SEA ISLAND LIMITED OF ANTIGUA, WEST INDIES on debris at Half Moon Beach. This is a spectacular beach but the hotel that was there was a fatal victim of LUIS in 1995. Consequently the beach has no one immediately clearing the debris like beaches with operational hotels. "NICK... a short report... will be back to you on MILL REEF later.. The biggest problem with the beach: TREE DAMAGE... many uprooted... and a lot of garbage that has washed up  - both man made and  seaweed....  this will have to be cleaned up somehow...AND WILL BE sooner or later. The beautiful white sand is STILL THERE  although there are some rocky areas which will probably be covered over in time. ... still be one of our most beautiful beaches and certainly by "the season",  will be ready to be enjoyed by the tourists and locals alike." ============== "don elmore" (aboardrf@hotmail.com) reports on the conditions at Aboard Refrigeration a company specializing in marine refrigeration for our extensive yachting community "Dear Nick, Aboard Refrigeration will be in full operation on the 12th of October. We sustained only a little flooding which happens frequently anyway due to plumbing problems. We will do what we can to let the world know we will be ready for the tourists during the season. Thanks again. Eileen and Don" ===============   Tomorrow... Jolly Harbour. eTales.com CineSecrets.com Island Arts Galleries 1-by-1.com/AntiguaNews Antigua & Barbuda Link Directory & others: http://1-by-1.com/WebPages  
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 00:08:02 -0400 From: Nick Maley (maleyn@candw.ag) I've just put up a page with updates from hotels and businesses in Antigua & Barbuda about the recovery progress here. It will be updated daily, (for a while at least). You will find it at http://1-by-1.com/AntiguaNews I've also created an AntiguaNewsletter for those who want to be kept informed of updates......... mailto:AntiguaNews@CineSecrets.com New growth here astounds me. I cut down my fallen banana trees and they have sprouted 15 inches in a week! Power is just 200 yards from my house now. Maybe tomorrow......... Nick maleyn@candw.ag CineSecrets.Com Island Arts Galleries Antigua Antigua & Barbuda Link Directory & others: http://1-by-1.com/WebPages
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 19:03:28 -0300 From: John Fuller (fullerj@candw.ag) Subject: Barbuda barbuda is fine little or no damage.they were well prepared.i panicked them all as early as friday.the microwave dish on antigua for their phone link is down-will be up soon.
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 10:54:26 -0400 From: John Marvin (marvins@candw.ag) Barbuda was not hit as hard as Antigua. There was some damage but most of the damage was done to the small wooden houses. St Kitts got hit really hard and Montserrat was spared from much damage. I was told that only one roof on the whole island was lost. Here in Antigua power is being restored at a steady rate but not in our area. We are relying upon a generator to send and receive e-mails. Here is a copy of a letter that I sent out: Praise God and thank you for your prayers! We made it through hurricane Georges. We made an area downstairs and tucked away during the storm. The heavy winds started at 7:30 p.m. Sunday night and lasted until about 8:00 a.m. Monday morning. David & Phillip slept through it all. We are glad that it was so short. The last hurricane that hit Antigua lasted almost 3 days! All the vegetation around our house has been blown away or damaged. We lost some shingles from the roof and gutters and had some water inside. Some of our neighbors didn't do so well. Many lost their roofs and everything inside was destroyed. One lady that lives above us lost her roof and it ended up across the street from our house. A Baptist missionary couple who are friends of ours lost their roof and spent the whole night in a hall closet. The poor people in the little wooden shacks fared the worse. Most of the people in these areas went to shelters to find everthing gone the next morning. The government of Antigua is doing a great job to restore power but it has not reached us yet. We have been without power since Sunday September 20th when the huricane hit so we use a generator to send and check e-mails. The roads are cluttered with debris (trees, trash, roofing & powerlines) and are being cleared at a steady rate. We have heard of looters taking advantage of the darkness and access to stores because of damage. The eye of the hurricane passed directly over us. Some communities were hit worse than others. Many people are homeless or have houses that are unable to use until repairs are made. We have been blessed because the rains stopped after the hurricane passed and only today we have had some showers. We suffered two deaths here in Antigua and many people were injured. Our district is comprised of Antigua, Barbuda & St. Kitts. Barbuda did quite well with little damage. St. Kitts did not do as well. Many people were left homeless. We will keep you posted of any special prayer requests and keep you updated on the progress of recovery. Thanks again for your prayers and for thinking of us. Please keep the people of Antigua in prayer as they recover from the devistation. God Bless, John, Sarah, David & Phillip Marvin
Date: Mon, 28 Sep 1998 12:06:10 +0400 (GMT) From: Alan B. Scholl (scholla@candw.ag) Subject: drive around the south... Gert, Yesterday I took a drive around the south and I think damage reports have been exaggerated in comparison to LUIS. Yes, there was damage and there were roofs lost but I did not see the kind of relentless damage left by LUIS. I do recall the images of a house that "exploded" after LUIS. You saw no signs of such. There seems to be lots of evidence indicated numerous small tornadoes as surgical damage is quite apparent in many areas. Over the weekend even more areas were "lighted up" as the power company APUA continues to restore its infrastructure. Things are normalizing and almost business as usual. Unfortunately I was not a lucky recipient of power but I suspect sometime this week we should be connected to the grid. Alan B. Scholl Home: http://www.candw.ag/admin/alans.html Ham: V21BF Antigua, West Indies - "Where Land & Sea Make Beauty..."
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 16:45:18 -0400 From: stai@canada.lucent.com Subject: Info re: Barbuda If you have any information about the situation in Barbuda I would appreciate it greatly. I've not heard from my brother - Oliver Trunzer, wife - Kelcina Burton-George and two small children since just before Georges hit. They live in Codrington, and the only news I've heard so far is that a helicopter finally landed on the island on Thursday - finding a number of injured people. There has been no confirmation of their safety. If you are in contact with anyone at all in Antigua who may be involved with efforts to help those in Barbuda, please forward this message on. With my gratitude, Sandy Trunzer Tai stai@canada.lucent.com (416)699-1755 residence (416)756-5160 business
Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 16:15:15 -0300 From: MARTHA WATKINS GILKES (gilkesm@candw.ag) Subject: LIFE GOES ON AND GETS BETTER!!! Antigua is really pulling itself together! It was only 6 days ago that we were battening down the hatches and thank goodness most took this thing seriously and were prepared..... because we certainly took a terrible lashing... However, already there are BUDS ON MANY PLANTS... many phones are still working (don't know how as I drive over my line several times a day...) and electricity is being restored quickly (not to me...as I am 14 miles away from "civilazation" so dont expect this right away...and my 3 little mircles of life I told you about in an earlier posting (the new born baby love birds who weathered the hurricane OUTSIDE and went 48 hours with no food or mama to tend them...) are thriving after being rescued. Each day there are new colors coming out... blues/ greens/ peach tones...and each day it seems they think I AM THE MOTHER BIRD as I feed them! They have helped me keep faith in restoration/ clean up of major mess and knowing that our PARADISE ANTIGUA will come back... So guys... give us a few more weeks and we will be ready for our wonderful tourists to come back and enjoy it with us! I have not resumed my scuba diving business so cannot tell you the state of the reef. We know it will be badly damaged as the waves and beach damage was major... but, life the baby birds...that too will recover... Our thoughts have been with all the others in the path of the storm... the Gulf Coast now... and just know, no matter how bad it seems, it will get better (as long as Gert does not tell us about ANOTHER STORM.) Bless him for the great need he has filled with STORM 98...
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 18:17:05 -0500 From: Conrad La Barrie (labarrielc@candw.ag) Subject: Cruise Ship Facilities in Antigua Greetings from sunny Antigua! I am happy to report that both cruise ship docks in Antigua are in good shape and we expect business to continue as normal next week. 'Norwegian Sea' will be in port on Wednesday and the 'Monarch of the Seas' on Thursday. Extensive clean up is ongoing throughout the island and Nelson's Dockyard will be operational. Destination Antigua Ltd, agent for fourteen cruise lines and sister company of Bryson's Shipping, are expecting a bouyant cruise season for 98/99. To find out more about Antigua, check our website http://www.1-by-1.com/DestinationAntigua/ Cyberegards Conrad La Barrie.
Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 13:31:43 +0400 (GMT) From: Alan B. Scholl (scholla@candw.ag) Things are indeed looking up. Most businesses are open and/or reopening. Many areas in and around St.Johns has had power restored fully. I am told that I may get power back this weekend as the infrastructure in my area was somewhat unscathed. We have a generator so at night it is almost business as usual. Alan Scholl
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 23:24:48 -0700 From: Curt Waite (c.waite@internetMCI.com) Subject: Curt Waite Newsletter 23 September 1998 Dear Friends, I have been waiting (too long) for things to settle down so I could write a newsletter. At that rate, apparently, I will never write one. Our life seems to get more complicated every day, so I'd better go ahead and write a newsletter while it is still possible! Thanks for your patience. If I had not been through Hurricane Luis in '95, I would have described Hurricane Georges as a terribly destructive storm. But I^"ll get to Georges in a minute. Barb is in the States right now. She went up with Josh about a month ago to get him started in his Senior year of high school at Bob Jones Academy. I was scheduled to join her next week to begin a four-month furlough, but plans have changed somewhat. She is now trying to get a flight back to Antigua to help with the cleanup. She is wonderful! I had been scheduled to start furlough in August, but Jerry Baker had to delay his furlough until I returned from my medical trip, and now I have to wait until he returns. (We really need another couple here, for a lot of reasons, so pray that Roger and Stacy Kennard will have their support soon. I think they are at about 60%.) I am guessing it will be the middle of October before we can get out of here now. My heart seems to be doing OK. It made it through the stress of a category three hurricane and six-hours sleep in 48 hours so I can't complain! Georges didn't last long, from about 8:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. Your basic nine hours of terror... The first four hours weren^"t too bad. I was at home. Two of our announcers with their families, veterans of Luis, stayed at the station and I had phone and two-way radio contact with them. I could hear shingles ripping off the roof and unknown objects being torn apart in the yard. Then the eye was over us for an hour and I ran around the house with a flashlight checking damage, which wasn't too bad at that point. A very eerie experience. After the eye, the winds returned with a vengeance from the opposite direction, this time with torrential rains. The shingles really started going then, and rain began pouring through the roof boards. I tried to keep up with a mop for a while, but after about two hours gave it up and found a dry spot where I 'slept' in a chair. Most of our furniture and all of our papers and electronic items were protected in plastic, but some of the furniture got pretty wet anyway. The three bedrooms had over an inch of standing water in them in the morning. In general, Antigua came through the storm pretty well. There is a lot of damage, dozens of houses destroyed, hundreds of homes and businesses with all or part of the roof gone, utility poles down, uprooted and broken trees, etc., but nothing like the total devastation of Luis. Only two deaths in Antigua, and only a few injuries. Most of the ministries, pastors and missionaries came through with little damage. The home of Pastor Burleigh, Galilean Baptist Church, was completely destroyed. Our Operations Manager at CRL, Augustine Erskine, lost half the roof on his house, and many things inside. I am sure we will be without water for several days until they get the pumps running, and without power for a couple of weeks. The blessing in all of this was the fact that Radio Lighthouse was able to broadcast continually throughout the night with weather updates, local reports, and, of course, the gospel. In fact, from 2:00 a.m. Monday morning (just after the eye) until 8:00 a.m. Wednesday, Radio Lighthouse was the ONLY station in the area still broadcasting! This has been a tremendous testimony to God's protection and has been greatly appreciated by the public. It's great! People who wouldn't listen to Christian radio on a bet have to listen to us now for news, weather and all the public service messages we are carrying. You can be sure we interspersed them with evangelistic programs! We were able to maintain contact via the internet with the National Hurricane Center in Miami as well as the local weather and disaster organizations, and keep our listeners informed of the progress of the storm and precautions they should take. We know that many of you were praying for us during the time of the storm. It is interesting to note that in the hours before the storm struck, the intensity dropped from 150 mph winds down to a little over 100 mph. God hears. By the way, thank you for your prayers while I was going through the problems with my heart. Good came out of that as well, but I am ready for a rest. We appreciate you and look forward to the possibility of seeing you this winter. Yours in Christ, Curt Waite
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 22:34:19 -0400 From: Nick Maley (maleyn@candw.ag) It's a miracle..... The phone is back on in less than a week!!!! Just picked up the email. To all of those who sent their prayers and good wishes I send my thank. We are fine although it got a bit twitchy for a while. When I sent my last message we were less than 20 minutes from the eye but the Internet messages suggested it might build for another few hours before that respite and clearly that worried me since I could already hear sections of the roof lifting. I actually went out in the calm of the eye and nailed part of my roof down again before the wind came in from the other side. Many parts of the island reported that the second half of the storm was much worse than the first half. For me in Hodges bay the first half was much worse than the second although there was an initial 20 minutes where I feared the side door might be sucked out as it bent with the pressure outside. Incredibly THE ISLAND SUFFERED COMPARATIVELY LITTLE DAMAGE. By that I don't wish to minimize the suffering of others or play down the tragic deaths that have occurred, however reporting of damage , especially by the Antigua Sun has been terribly biased towards sensationalism and is misrepresentative of the condition of the island as a whole...... to such an extent that it is downright irresponsible. If I was a travel agent reading their online report you would believe that the island is completely devastated and tell my clients to vacation anywhere other than Antigua. However, in comparison with past hurricanes we have been blessed and are in surprisingly good shape. Yes.... a number of hotels are closing for a month to clean up their properly to maintain usual standards but many on the west cost of the island have better beaches now than before the storm. The general outlook of locals is VERY up beat. Of course we are tired with endless rounds of cleaning and removal of debris but we expected so much worse. Yes....  there were several cases of destroyed homes and lost roofs there were far fewer than in Luis. There is no doubt in my mind that the real difference was not the power of the storm so much as the length that we had to endure it. We were very lucky that the storm was passed in 11 hours so although it was fierce it was very short (Luis was 36 hours). If Georges had continues another 5 hours or so I am sure we would have suffered much more. Still no power but my generator is a god send and apart from a few areas there aren't too many power lines down. Some parts of St. John's already have power restored and we are told that the rest of the island should have power back in about 2 weeks. The garden is trashed and we lost the roof to the guest cottage but considering that the eye ran right over us with purported gusts of 150 mph we have minimal loss and you'll hear no complaints from me. Even now most fallen trees are cleared to the side of the road and there are plans to dispose of debris over the coming few weeks. Worst problem now is letting the rest of the world know that we are OK since THE POTENTIAL ECONOMIC DAMAGE THAT COULD BE DONE BY TOURISTS STAYING AWAY IS LIKELY TO BE MORE HARMFUL THAN THE STORM ITSELF. Regards Nick Visit his great Antigua websites: Island Arts Galleries Antigua and Antigua & Barbuda Link at CineSecrets.Com -Gert

Earlier reports have been moved here.

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