Vacations-Away

Hurricane Floyd    

Floyd hit Abaco and Little Harbor Bahamas with a raging 155mph wind speed.   The eye of the hurricane passed directly over and lasted 3-4 hours.

                         Diary of Floyd      Damages      Messages

  Aerial picture of Quarter Deck [right center] taken by Buck the day after the hurricane.   Buck and Sarah's place [left center], the Harbor [far right].  The light brown is the scarping of the land caused by the waves during the hurricane.

Diary of Floyd as it occurred in Little Harbor - Richard Appaldo

9/13/1999 18:00
Every body have done what they could, adding lines and anchors, battening down hatches, doors and windows, moving boats to considered safe moorings, preparing hurricane supplies and bagging valuables. Much more could be done but we run out of time.

9/13/1999 20:30
We check into the safest places we can imagine... During the night, the winds start increasing steadily as the pressure drops fast.

9/14/1999 9:29
Hurricane Floyd is 80 miles from us and rushing toward us. We are in the basement of a concrete house (Floyd's !) and still able to go check in the harbour, through the cave shaft that leads to his dock. As of 20 minutes ago, all the boats were still in the harbour but taking a beating. The docks are under water and we have 3/4 feet waves coming through the pass. The dock house on Saiber's dock has disappeared. The barometric pressure is 983 and falling, the winds are in excess of 100 knots and increasing. Bob, Alison, Greg, Heather, Jean and I are together with 3 cats and we do have, as of now, radio amateur contact, with Bob Ball reporting regularly on the storm. We hope to be able to make some phone patches when it's over. Alison keeps our spirits up. The house is built strongly but water starts coming in under the doors and windows and through the walls under the ceiling. Jean is mopping what she can and we remove some mattresses from under the leaks. The last email I got was from Harden Crawford offering his house, if it was still standing, for us to live in it while we rebuild and it's strangely a comforting though and a hopeful one. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the first round of a fight that we are loosing fast.

9/14/1999 10:18
Greg and I went out then down the cave shaft to have a view of the harbour. Slew Foot Sal is gone and against the Saiber's dock which is disintegrating... Jimmy Ladder's dock is history and the pilings are
banging against Floyd's dock. Visibility is too bad to see if there is more boats loose.
Bridge's Express and Potential are still holding and LJ2 is fighting hard despite an important windage. Baro is down to 976 and falling more. It's howling outside and water is coming in but we are still cool for now. We will have to switch entrance doors at the passage of the eye and install the shutters on the door we are using. This might be not fun at all. Larry reported on the VHF that the top of the parking lot was under water and the gallery was flooded. This means that water is passing over North Beach at least. The butterflies in my stomach have mutated into
giant bats...
Larry, Laine, Mindy, Bill County, Aubrey and Walking Stick Mike are in Bill Johnston Generator house, solidly built in concrete. We all have food and water for a few days.

9/14/1999 11:22
It is becoming impossible to get out as the wind is now over 135 knots from the NE. Hurricane Floyd is now South East of us, about 30 nautical miles. The winds should start veering more to the South, leaving us with the entrance door exposed. There is our chance to switch shutters and open the NE door. It's pounding outside and the water level in the Harbour is 6 feet above normal.
I hope North Beach has not become a channel...

9/14/1999 11:39
Barometric pressure still falling at 962. Some leaks start to develop on the center of the ceiling, probably coming from the skylight upstairs, complimenting nicely the water that is seeping and bubbling through the E doors and windows.

9/14/1999 12:01
Baro 954...

 
9/14/1999 12:29
Went with Greg to the cave and had a look at the harbour... Visibility is less than 150 yards and we could only report seeing Potential still fighting. Floyd's dock has disintegrated in pieces less than 6 feet long. There is 2.5 feet of water at the bottom of the wood walkway in
the cave. I would think we have way over 8 feet above normal.

9/14/1999 14:54
The position of Floyd around 14:00 hour is 26 N 77W which is exactly South of us, less than 20 miles... We are on the inside of the NE wall and the barometer at 930 is still falling, the wind is less than 15 knots... The wind has dropped and we even see the glare of the sun for a little while. After walking to the platform out by Floyd's bedroom, i take a few pictures and the situation is pretty bad: Pete's main house is slanted toward the North and it seems that the foundations caved in. Rollie's boat is no where to be seen and might be behind the point,
next to Slew Foot Sal. Don Chamber's Shamrock boat has been ripped off the davits and is on land and the small whaler which was behind the foundry is on the beach by Saiber's corner!
Azimuth has lost her mast. I can see Brooke's mast and mine but can't say if they are afloat or sitting on the bottom. Larry has reported that most of the things of the foundry are on the other side of the Harbour. Wreckage is everywhere and we are only halfway through the storm. The water level is at the level of the top wall by the gallery which is still standing, for now. It is so strange to be in the eye right now and not to hear the screaming of the wind in the trees... most of them are gone or exfoliated anyway...

9/14/1999 15:54
This eye is still hovering above us and, surprisingly, it is clear to the NE which seems to indicate that the center of the storm would be more to the North than they say, maybe on top of us... Both our barometers report a lower pressure than the Hurricane Hunter plane... They probably don't fly as low as we do...

9/14/1999 17:03
It's the end of the vacation... The wind starts piping up again from the WSW and we have changed entrance doors by now, using the East entrance.

 
9/14/1999 17:37
The barometric pressure went up to 935 and the winds start coming very strongly from the West. We just have to wait for the morning... and check damages. With the wind blowing toward the cottage, the bar and
the foundry, prospectives don't look too good. At least, the tide is going out, along with the whaler from behind the foundry... Let's hope Clodokat is not going away through a newly cut channel in the pond. Moral is okay among us and we even have some wine with our sandwiches, telling Hurricane jokes... The shock will be coming when we will see the mess from up close... LJ2 team is doing okay as far as we can tell.

9/14/1999 19:39
Strong storm force winds out of the WSW, baro 959 and rising. Much better on it's way out than on it's way in.. We sleep like babies and try to postpone our worries until tomorrow. Pretty uneventful night as it is blowing only around 80 knots...

9/15/1999 6:28
The barometer has climbed to 997 and the wind is less than 15 knts out of the SW.

9/15/1999 10:01
Baro 1000, Wind light, sunny with light cloud cover.
Heather, Greg and i take a walk to the harbour, followed by Alison and Bob who go check different homes: the damages are very bad: The beach road is not usable for now. Piles of wood from the docks, trees and coconuts have been swept up by the action of the waves and the surge. The following is a list of the known damage. It does not mean that the rest is untouched, just visibly standing. It is hard to check everybody.
Rollie's boat is by the cave high and dry alongside Slew Foot Sal. There should be a way to get Cool Runnings back in the water and from shore they don't look too bad. Slew Foot Sal is standing upright but her waterline is 10 feet above water... there is a couple of cracks on the hull, the mast is still on. Bob and Alison's house has moved away a few feet, extensive water damage. Gallery is standing but waves broke through the doors, the water level was up to the top of the counter. Foundry is mostly empty but still standing. Generators were under water, Jeep was underwater. Beach House is tilted toward the North, sunk and the waves got in and trashed the place. The bedroom is still standing. Zeff and Oona's house is in bad shape as the waves removed some of the "cliff". Bryce and Marsha's house has lost many boards and we can see through it. The Crawford's place looks okay but for some shingles off the roofs.
Bob, makes a few phone patches with the Ham radio and we get the word out that we are alive. Because of the limited length of the message we avoid mentioning the damages..

9/15/1999 11:24
We manage to get Greg and Jean's cars to the water edge, by Michael Saiber's non existent dock and Bill Tamar takes her to her house with his dinghy. We remove the nuts from Cool Runnings' prop, trying to free it with no success. A piece of plywood is placed between the hull and the blades to avoid puncture. We get what we can out of the boat. With Heather and Greg we cut a path with the chainsaw to Libby's House where they relocate. We need bulldozer power to get a car to the foundry or Pete's house.
The surge was over 10 feet in the harbour, plus the waves... one drunk from Cherokee spent the hurricane in the cook shack, while his car was washed out from the parking lot to the harbour. He was salvaged by the LJ2 team off the beach where he was rolling in the surf. The waves have washed over the parking lot hill and behind Barnacle Bill's new building. The water level was probably as high as North Beach which has sand piled high. With Greg and Heather, we spend the rest of the day getting Libby's house hooked up for water and propane. They relocate inside as the cottage has had water to the waist. I dig the dinghy out of the leaves he is buried under and get to Clodokat. Some of the anchors dragged but she seems untouched. It looks like she was shaking badly and there are things fallen all over but the solar panels heavily tied down are still charging. Brooke's mast is broken and down. I go to bed early...

9/16/1999 7:40
Finally got a chance to talk to Marc Andre from Kahoa, who was at Tilloo Hole and Kerry and Greg from Tiki Dolphin, in Leisure Lee. They are all okay and still with a boat. They report in good health and they have each spent the hurricane in a house on shore. The boats are okay.
Major destruction is reported on the radio from Hope Town and Guana. Marsh Harbour did not do too good either...

9/16/1999 8:45
With Heather and Greg, we go to the Beach House and move all we can salvage from the Living room into the Bedroom. Plenty things salvaged and most of the art work. The Old Lady who Never dies has a good name and she is safely buried in the sand in front of the house. Greg gets the gray whaler out of the pond and gets it running. Planes have been chartered privately and loaded and reinforcement are coming with Rollie, Buck and JT, bringing chain saws, cigarettes, food and a lot of Hope. Zeff comes later and starts on his chain saw.
Jean's solar panels are hooked and JT goes to work on her roof, replacing shingles.

9/16/1999 17:00
We just finished collecting plywood and doors on the beach with Greg, while Heather is straightening the gallery as much as she can. We then board it against looters. Larry has brought LJ2 to what's left of the dock and is supplying some power to the bar. Aubrey is open for business, after digging the sand under the bar which was a few feet higher than you need it for a drink... we won't need the dancing pole for a while.
It is exhausting to work in the heat and to walk and carry everything. We need a bulldozer to clear an access road for supplies and a generator for power tools at the foundry and so many things that it's hard to know where to start but we are still here...
We are always telling people how this place is a paradise, we can now tell them that it can be hell too !

We will be without much communication for a while and this was sent by one of the relief planes chartered by some Little Harbour residents, to Anthea in Stuart who will dispatch this to the addresses on top. If you know of more people that this could interest please, forward as i do not have all email addresses. I could not go into the detail for all houses and boats, sorry about that. It is probably a good sign that it's mainly okay for these.. As soon as we can use the phones, we will be able to send more personnel email and make phone calls. Sorry also if most of this doesn't not concern all of you as this started as a personal diary and i have no time to write anything else.
Email can of course be sent to us and we'll collect it as we get phone lines back in Cherokee... someday... Cherokee is still there and working on recovery.
It would be impossible to thank everyone, both the ones who were here during the storm and did their best to protect properties and the ones who came to the rescue with food, money, tools and help...but we might not be here to thank anyone at all if Bill and Judy Johnston's generator house and Floyd and Gwen Smith's hurricane proof guest room had not been there to shelter us.     Top

Damages

HERE IS THE OVERALL SUMMARY OF VESSELS AS PROMISED.

PLEASE FORWARD TO ALL CONCERNED INCLUDING SEVEN SEA'S.

HURRICANE FLOYD
-------------BOAT LIST, MAN O WAY CAY, ABACO, BAHAMAS---------------

VESSEL NAME STATUS

1. BLUET O.K.
2. FIFTY/FIFTY MINOR RAIL DAMAGE
3. QUITE CHILD WASHED ASHORE
4. ANDIAMO O.K.
5. BONNIE LASS O.K.O
6. CHINA DOLL HEAVYSAIL/RADAR/DAMAGE
7. SEAGULL O.K.
8. S/V SANDPIPER O.K.
9. SHANNON C O.K.
10. SUMMERWIND RIPPED SAILS
11. LAZY LADY O.K.
12. GREEN COLUMBIA SLOOP 24' AFLOAT/RIG DAMAGED
13. QUITE TUNE PORT RAIL DAMAGE
14. M/Y MOLLY MORGAN MINOR PORT RUBRAIL DAMAGE
15. CHEOYLEE KETCH 28'-30' RIG AND SAIL DAMAGE
16. YELLOW SLOOP 25'-28' SUNK
17. DONE REACH O.K.
18. COASTAL CHIROPRACTOR DAMAGE TO PORT STERN
19. KOINONIA WASHED ASHORE
20. SALTY WASHED ASHORE
21. OUR DESTINY WASHED ASHORE
22. PROCYON WASHED ASHORE
23. ON Y A WASHED ASHORE
24. FEATHERBED WASHED ASHORE/REFLOATED
SEVERE DAMAGE.
25. FANCIFULL WASHED ASHORE
26. NAZAT-YAM WASHED ASHORE/BROKEN MAST
27. JADIE BIURE WASHED ASHORE
28. WILLIAM PROUTY WASHED ASHORE
29. POOBELLE AFLOAT/DAMAGED
30. REBORNE DAMAGED AEROGEN
31. SWEPT AWAY 31' BENETEAU O.K. (STEVE & DIANE)
32. AQUARIUS O.K.
33. CARMEN ALEXANDER O.K.
34. ETERNITY WASHED ASHORE/REFLOATED
STBD DAMAGE
35. ERIS ISLAND O.K.
36. KENDARIK O.K.
37. SHOWA O.K. WINDGEN? MINOR DAMAGE
38. MISS MUFFET O.K.
39. ECLIPSE O.K.
40. OH KAY WASHED ASHORE/REFLOATED
DAMAGED
41. SPRUZZO O.K.
42. GOLDEN GYPSY CANVAS DAMAGE
43. DIVIDEND O.K.
44. MOLLY O.K.
45. BIT O RITZ O.K.
46. MANAA MAYBE AFLOAT-DAMAGED HULL,SIDE
CANVAS
47. SANITY SAIL AND CANVAS DAMAGE
48. HUNTER 42' O.K. TORN SAILS CANVAS
49. M/V DOWN WIND LOST CABIN ROOF
50. HAPPY HOUR STBD RAIL DAMAGE
51. SIR CREEPER O.K. MINOR & CANVAS DAMAGE
52. KUKARO LOST OUT RIGGERS-MINOR DAMAGE
53. MI WAY O.K.
54. DEJA VU O.K.
----------------MARSH HARBOR RELAYED VIA VHF RADIO-------------------

1. WANDERLUST SANK
2. ISLAND GIRL SANK (JERRY CONROY)
3. WEE BE GONE WASHED ASHORE/DESTROYED
4. GHOST SANK
5. GREY GIG SANK
6. TOO TEMPTIN' SANK
7. SWEPT AWAY SANK (ROBERT WOSTER)
8. NONCHLANCE 2 DISMASTED/HOLED
9. ENDURANCE SANK
10. LOONEY BIN BLOWN ASHORE
11. NEW WAVE SANK
12. COOL RUNNINGS BLOWN ONTO ROCKS
13. SLEW FOOT SAL BLOWN ONTO ROCKS
14. SHAMROCK CAPSIZED

STEVE AND DIANE KC6PBK
S/V SWEPT AWAY >>     Top

Messages

Date: Thu, 16 Sep 1999 16:39:54 EDT
Subject: Little Harbour flyby general message to all
Hey everybody
This message from Anthea
ROLLIE and JT and BUCK did a quick flyby before they landed. They were able
to deplane and get a message back stateside when the pilot went back to pick
up Zef, Stuart N. and Bryce. Anthea is sending a satellite phone in
tomorrow! Then we should get a more detailed report. IN GENERAL, LITTLE
HARBOUR WITHSTOOD THE ONSLAUGHT MUCH BETTER THAN WE ALL EXPECTED. no houses
are gone. I have sent specific messages to specific people also, but this
message is for all those interested.
The gallery is still standing, and there is some spotty roof damage. I know
we are all thirsty for info, but that is all I have right now.

From: ZEFANOON@aol.com
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 06:12:46 EDT
Subject: email from Bill Johnston
Dear LHFamily,
Got an email from Bill (sent Fri night). He says he has been down in LH with
the bulldozer, trying to clear the road, and then some dock plank fell on a
hydraulic line...Seems the shore line down in the harbour, atlantic side is
greatly changed.
Pete's new dock survived, although it is higher now than before, which means
the harbour itself is changed too. It sounds like there was a tremendous
amount of high water swirling around, so low lying buildings were damaged.
They are going to try to fly in early this (sat.) morning and get the Sat
phone in. Anthea says that they will call her house and info will be sent
out from there. Rosie L. is there helping her with things. They have really
been "command central" for Little Harbour. In Florida help has been pouring
in for the Bahamas, but now the bottleneck syndrome sets in....no way to get
the stuff down there....
more soon, I hope.
()()Na

From: ZEFANOON@aol.com
Date: Sat, 18 Sep 1999 09:55:21 EDT
Subject: Saturday morning in Tampa
Dear All,
Please forgive me if I am repeating myself...I've been listening to the Ham
radio (not licensed to transmit like Harry..but Floyd done him wrong up there
too and he is having trouble with his radio) picking up the phone and
checking email. The ham radio people have beeen amazing with passing
messages and being available.
The guys asked mostly for chainsaws and chainsaw oil and parts. Clay is down
in S. FL and trying to get over. We are hoping the sat phone and plane will
get in today along with Darlene, Tom and JohnL. Don't know about duty...have
heard maybe will have to pay....
It was good to hear Bob's voice on the radio. He sounded strong. Said his
house, although moved off the foundation, looked like it could be picked up
and moved back, IF they can get the equipment to move it. Bill J. (who
emailed me...must have power and phone in MH) went down the road from his
house to the corner in front of Bob and Ali's with the bull dozer, and then
a plank fell on one of his hydraulic lines and cut it.
Aubrey is cooking for everyone and is desperately needing hamburger rolls!
That's Darlene's department...don't know if you heard, but she has amassed
enough food to feed em for 3 days. Anthea has been doing a WILD SUPERB
COORDINATING ALL THIS..
just heard from Anthea and was able to pass this message through an angel
named Conrad on the Single Side Band to Bob B who is on the ham right now
passing messages for people on the VHF!! this network is amazamundo!
Plane in the air with sat phone, food, Gayle (dar's bro) Dar, and JohnL.
Brooke P on his way to FL with Chainsaw.
Pete J. is being picked up in Miami (or somewhere down there) right now.
Anthea's house is full of stuff, she is going to try to get it to the
Margarita or some such freighter on Mon.
Ken C. and 3 more bodies on the way from Louisville.
That's all for now....can still hear BobB faintly....(9:45am)
Oon
(personal note: our toolie got moved, and will have to be totally rebuilt, my
pic shows windows on our house instead of shutters...so probably gutted
inside since the bluff is now directly outside my back door....haven't heard
about our cottage, but the surge was nasty, so not much hope there...yikes.)    Top

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