IMPORTANT TREASURE CAY UPDATE
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Posted by Robert Meister on September 18, 1999 at 09:45:53:
I went to Treasure Cay on Thursday (9/18), so here are some facts and news
of what we know so far. First of all, THANKS for all the tremendous support.
If you want to help, The Bahamas Government has set up a monetary relief
fund and here is the information for anyone who wants to donate money:
BAHAMAS HURRICANE RELIEF FUND
FIRST UNION BANK MIAMI
200 S BISCAYNE BLVD
MIAMI, FL 33131
ACCOUNT NO. 209 000 199 2950 PLEASE DO NOT go to Treasure Cay unless you have some kind of permission or
permit from the Bahamas Government or other emergency reason. You need
permission even if you just want to drop off relief supplies,
but you need to make sure that Local Government Social Service Administrators
receive them at Customs. You will be charged duty otherwise.
Main customs officer at TC is Mr. Bethel. If you need
to come in, you must bring your documents. Please check for updates,
because policies will change at some point. HERE IS MY BRIEF REPORT:
The roads are open to TC with SOME flooding (receding now),
debris and powerlines down including within TC.
The good news is, Richard Collins (our engineer) has performed
a minor miracle and restored approx. 1/3 of power capacity which covers the
central area including administration/reception center, supermarket, medical
clinic, the long building and other areas. The bad news is that all of our
other generators in the power plant were flooded 3 feet deep with saltwater
and are inoperable, maybe not even salvageble. We have already rented an
additional generator for TC, but it will take time to get it there. Batelco's main phone exchange at TC was flooded with saltwater. GOOD NEWS. Believe it or not, the marina has surprisingly little damage to
the docks with only one small dock down and a few planks bend or missing.
Most boats look almost untouched, but some have minor damage
to railings, outriggers, etc.
Status Report:
MARK KIM sank.
PHOEBUS-hull damage starboard side
JUSTICE-bad, most damaged boat in marina
WIND CHIME-damage to sail only
ELEGANTE-some damage to hull
BETH SHEEBA-some hull damage
BONJOUR-damage to starboard side
If your boat is NOT on this list, consider yourselves lucky.
You might have a broken antenna or outriggers or nothing at all.
If you need to contact us, please call 954-525-7711.
The hotel (Harbour Houses) building is intact, especially the newer roofs did
very well with almost no damage. Parts of the older roofs came off and shingles
are gone. The worst is the flooding damage. We estimate that storm surge was
around 8 to 10 feet and saltwater got in the lower level of rooms.
Several windows have blown out and A/C's are gone because of saltwater
damage. Part of the seawall in front of hotel collapsed. More good news. The Tipsy Seagull has very mild damage (we all need a drink
after this one). The Spinnaker Restaurant has about 8 windows blown in,
therefore the inside is a mess. Carpet is history and kitchen got flooded as
well. There is a hole in the roof on the backside. The administration center is fine (which is of great help to us).
The real estate office collapsed. Windward Beach was still inaccessable, because of downed trees.
I was told, almost every home has serious flood damage and this area
is among the worst off. Storm surge at the resort was around 8-10 feet
we estimate. Kiki Graetz almost drowned. She held on to a pole or piling
in her house while water was gushing through. I am sure there are more
stories like this of which we will hear.
The Tillberg house roof collapsed and the house is a total
mess, but Mr. and Mrs. Tillberg survived. They drove to the shelter
during the eye of the storm.
Phil English's house has a boat ? in his living room and the front side
is bad.
John Williams has his car buried almost completely in sand .
And on and on and on, the damage to homes is extensive and sure will be
in tens of millions dollars. Structurally, the majority of buildings
did reasonably well, but once you have a leak and there are plenty,
even a small one, everything got wet inside. And you know what
saltwater does to your belongings and electrical outlets.
Many homes and condos have lost shingles or more.
Trailers flipped over, one was sitting on top of a pickup truck.
The canal behind Atlantis is a complete mess.
The docks are warped, boats sitting on top of warped docks, docks sitting
on top of boats, boats sitting on top of lawns and a boat squeezed between
a wall and Atlantis condo like it was parked there intentionally.
Several boats sunk right there on that canal.
One boat was washed out the canal, into the marina and across the bay
1/2 a mile away.
The old barge outside the marina entrance now sits in front of the Kiebler
house, which looked bad from the air. We anticipate to reopen the hotel, villas by December, if not earlier.
The Marina could be open earlier. Our biggest problem is the electrical
damage and tests will have to be done. We already had two minor fires
when power was restored to certain areas. Please be careful, when the power
comes back. In certain areas, bark was sheared off trees and every tree is down.
The vegetation is virtually gone and it does look like a bomb went off.
However, this will come back quickly (3-6 months).
A saw a confused hummingbird looking for flowers, but there are none.
I saw one dead kitten and someone in GTC saw a bird without feathers. Mr. Pinder and other people in the shelter heard the hurricane hunter plane
over TC during the eye (I will give National Hurricane Center a call). Immediately after the storm, we (Treasure Cay Services) started a relief fund
with 4 South Florida locations for dropoffs.
We already sent two planeloads full of relief supplies including a packed
cargo-converted Gulfstream Intl. Beechcraft. Thanks to Wendy Clements.
These supplies went to Fox Town, Coopers Town, and to TC.
Jim Nawn of Green Turtle Club has been active for GTC.
As of last night, he said they needed manpower, because everyone is
working on their roofs.
Several of our employees have structural damage and flooding in their homes. It is almost a miracle, that no one died or had a major injury.
In Fox Town, several people in a shelter left the church during the eye and
ran to another shelter because the roof was in bad shape. When they
came back after the storm, the church roof was gone.
The prime minister yesterday said on the radio, that virtually
everyone is homeless in Fox Town. Coopers Town looked bad from the air with
several homes completely destroyed. Sorry, that I couldn't get this out quicker, but we were overwhelmed with
calls and logistical problems. If you want to offer help, you can e-mail us at info@treasurecay.com and list
your phone number please. THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP. More soon, Robert Meister
President
Treasure Cay Services, Inc. but
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