Hurricane Dennis

September 1999 Table of Contents

HURRICANE DENNIS

Abaco continued to ride its lucky streak, the eye of Hurricane Dennis staying some 40 mile off the east coast. That said, however, Dennis was a definite menace. The top of the Jib Room in Marsh Harbour was destroyed and one of Dive Abaco's boat sank by the dock at Conch Inn Marina. Only the roof was (occasionally) above water. One of the docks in the Conch Inn complex was pulled free and a tree landed (quite gently) on the guest rooms. All through Marsh Harbour, trees were down and the power pole outside Royal Canadian Bank snapped near the top. Dozens of garbage cans floated in the water by Mangoes, collected by Dennis and driven into a watery cul-de-sac. Damage was light in Dundas Town, Murphy Town and Spring City. Fox Town was reported as cut off for a while due to falling trees. There were no reports of injuries from Dennis.

In Treasure Cay there was light damage. Trees were brought down, one of them denting the roof of Abaco Journal corresponent Jean Buchanan's car. We heard, too, that Brian Sheehe and Bruce Barth both suffered deck damage from falling trees. Power was off from 8 pm Friday to 10 pm Saturday because of trees falling on the lines. Residents commented on what a good job the repair crews did. Telephone service was uninterrupted. Boats in Treasure Cay Marina were undamaged, but there were reports of damage to a dock in Brigantine Bay canal.

Reports from Green Turtle Cay said there was little structural damage, but the sea walls and roadside on the South Side of New Plymouth had been washed away and docks destroyed. Three boats went aground, one in Black Sound and two in White Sound. Hurricane Dennis had definitely affected Green Turtle Cay more than predecessors Erin and Bertha.

Winds were measured at 115 mph and there was a degree of water invasion as Dennis moved in near to high tide on the day after a full moon. Dennis was a very gusty hurricane. Rather than maintaining a steadily-growing wind speed, Dennis kept gusting from moderate wind speed to very high.

The strongest winds were experienced after the eye of Dennis had passed north. Storm winds were recorded from early afternoon on Friday 27th August until early Sunday morning.

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