hurricane floyd sk

November 1999 Table of Contents

HURRICANE FLOYD
by Sarone Kennedy

(During the hurricane preparedness meetings held in Marsh Harbour before Floyd struck, Sarone Kennedy was appointed Commander of the Hurricane Centre at Central Abaco Primary School. This is his account of life in a hurricane shelter during a mighty storm.)

We started to take people into the shelter at 1 pm on 13th September. We had eight classrooms available and by evening we had 298 shelterers. Next day we received many more once other shelters like the Church of God received damage, bringing the total to well over 300. My wife Regina assisted me in the housing arrangements, keeping families together and tending to their needs. She worked much harder than me.

We had the assistance of Pastor Carlton Dorsette, his wife Sharon, and six US missionaries from Missouri visiting the Trumpet Assembly of God, Dundas Town. One of them, Mr Ed Crawley, attached my car battery to a VHF radio so we could be in communication with the outside world. Missionary ladies manned the telephones all night long that first night. It was harder than you might think because the phones were not ringing, only flashing. You had to watch them all the time.

Before we took up residence in the school, Mike Malone took me to Casuarina Point so I could gather my valuables and documents and lock up my home there. It was Mike who gave us the VHF cable and antenna. He was a very great help. Just Coasting was able to receive our VHF messages and send them through ham radio. This was particularly important for six US tourists from Man-O-War Cay who were with us and needed to let their families know they were OK after Floyd had passed.

At the height of the storm we were able to help out in a rescue operation. Fleuris Pierre-Louis had been bringing people to us in his bus. Elder Nixon and two others reported that they had seen a family on Crockett Drive whose house had been damaged and they were outside. I offered to go to help but it was pointed out that, as Commander, I had to stay on duty at the centre. Four other people - Japhus Henchell, Elkeno Lowe, Alfred Walkine and PC David Rolle - went with Mr Pierre-Louis out into the teeth of the storm to effect the rescue. They brought back 13 people, mostly children. One of them was only 3 weeks old. As they made their way into the centre we cheered the heroes on - everybody was cheering. It was a real act of heroism.

We had the use of bathroom facilities but there were problems. We did not have a master key and the bathrooms kept locking automatically and we had to keep borrowing the key. In the end, the hurricane prevented anyone going outside and we rigged up tarpaulins for privacy and used buckets.

People spent a lot of time sleeping, singing hymns and partaking in services. Bishop William Gibson was particularly effective here. When the storm was at its worst, Sharon Dorsette led everybody in the singing of the hymn We Can Ride Out The Storm - and we did!

We had four senior citizens with us and Social Services were wonderful and brought us food regularly. Thank you Charlamae Fernander. Mrs Vyrona Archer brought us beds and AID provided us with a new battery for the VHF radio once my car battery had run down. Chief Councillor Silbert Mills kept in constant contact, as did MP Robert Sweeting and ASP Russell of the Royal Bahamas Police Force. Trauma One and the Volunteer Fire Department checked us out regularly. Pastor Loristant, Pastor Lucane and others from the Haitian community were very helpful. One man had a seizure and we were glad to have Nurse Kathleen Joseph on hand to help us.

On the day after Floyd struck a US Coastguard helicopter landed in the school yard and we were asked how we were doing. They said they had had no communications with Abaco and were worried.

Initially, everybody slept on the floor. Later, Floyd drove rain in and we had some flooding. We used what we could to lie on then: platforms, cupboards, rows of chairs. We were mopping constantly.

Much of the emergency food provided for the Haitians at the shelter was unfamiliar to them and they refused to eat it. I also noted that there was selling and trading going on during the storm between members of the Haitian community. Once we could get outside, my wife cooked using a Sterno and two rocks.

The school building stood up to Floyd very well, even though the wind was so fierce the rain was like a blizzard. And how long were Regina and I at the centre? Six days, six hours and 28 minutes!

I learned a lot from the experience and I have some observations. Before the next hurricane season we should train people to operate hurricane shelters and have everything required on hand - including a satellite phone. There should also be a comprehensive disaster plan for the island which would go into effect for such contingencies as plane crashes and gas explosions as well as hurricanes.

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