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STORM DAMAGE, RELIEF AND REBUILDING REPORTS: Posted by Patty B on October 10, 1999 at 00:06:01: I just arrived home from 48 hours in Abaco. Upon checking in on the board I decided to forgo an entire trip report and concentrateon the primary purpose of my visit - the school problem in Sandy Point. I left Treasure Cay Friday morning to visit my friends, the Bullards in Sandy Point. After a quick stop at the police station to say howdy to Sergeant Bullard I went to his house for a visit with his wife and daughter. Mrs. Bullard (Stacy) is a teacher at the primary school. After an hour or so of chit chat and story swapping, we went over to the school. Class has not yet begun as the buildings are in desperate need of repair and there are no desks, chairs, textbooks or teaching materials of any sort. Stacy showed me what she had salvaged. It all fit on a makeshift 2x8 table; a few geoboards, some plastic math cubes, a jug of glue, and a few pairs of scissors. Then she noticed a piece from a wooden puzzle I had sent her last year, melting into the ground. I thought she would cry. I know I wanted to. She proudly and gratefully showed me a rather short stack of building supplies received from the US supply ship. I thought, OMG! Is that all they got! We have to do more, people. What I saw might keep the children from seeing the sky as they sit at the desks, reading the texts the government promised would come soon (LOL). Upon entering the gutted class room, the first thing I noticed was the blackboard. The lessons from the last day of school were intact except for the abrupt clear area at the bottom where the sea had washed it and everything else away. I walked over to guess how high the water had been. It was clean from my collar bone down. I stand 5'5". Since there is a step or two leading into the building, I figure there was at least 6' of sea water in that area. Think about this. Picture a classroom in your mind. Imagine all that is stored within reach of the young students. Now the walls are soggy from the water and shelving collapses. All that is left are the posters that were hung up high on the walls. Thanks for caring. REPORT FROM DAVE and KATHY RALPH - PUBLISHERS OF The bi-monthly Abaconian newspaper (for Abaconian subscription information, please Click HERE): WEBMASTER NOTE: due to extensive wind and storm surge damage to power lines, poles and transmission equipment, electricity is not expected to return to Sandy Point until December. September 16-22: Many towns had severe flooding. In Sandy Point, every house was flooded. The school there has lost all its books, materials, computers, copying machine, typewriters, etc. Casuarina Point lost probably a dozen houses. And with all these communities many more houses will have to be condemned as full knowledge of the damages is known. September 21: Today we have received more news from other areas. Some towns have taken a real beating. The older part of Crossing Rocks we understand is no more. However, today we learned that Moore's Island is probably the worst. Robert Sweeting, our representative in the Nassau Parliament, flew in and was so overwhelmed by the damage that he was not able to speak at the meeting I went to with out breaking down. About 25 percent of the are homes totally missing. Another 50 percent are uninhabitable. Dave (Ralph) was over in the cays today, or he could have probably flown there today with Mr. Hart. Cherokee Sound actually fared quite well, with few totally demolished homes. However, once again, Choerokee's long dock has suffered significant damage. Additional reports on this area coming soon. The better quality roof shingles definitely did better through this storm. I was interested that most types of roofing had problems, even cement tile. The only one that didn't was a Bermuda roof made of overlapping marine plywood and there are not many of them. |
