Heartbreaking!

The first aerial photos coming out of Marsh Harbour are heartbreaking. Almost everything is gone. Buildings, cars, boats...all gone. Much of the island is still underwater long after the hurricane has passed. The devastation caused by Category 5 Hurricane #Dorian on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas is catastrophic. It hit with sustained winds of 185mph (298km/h) and gusts well over 200 mph. The wind speeds equalled the fastest ever inflicted by a hurricane upon landfall, matched only by the Labor Day hurricane of 1935. It was Labor Day weekend in the States last weekend.

Alex and I chartered out of Marsh Harbour in the Abacos years ago. It was a delightful place. The main islands of Great Abaco and Little Abaco were separated from the barrier islands by the Sea of Abaco which was ideal for sailing. I wonder what's happened to the string of tiny out islands we visited: Elbow Cay, Man-o-War Cay, Great Guana Cay and Green Turtle Cay. No one is mentioning them, but seeing the destruction in Marsh Harbour, I imagine there is little left. They were but tiny sandbanks, some with just one resort and a couple of wooden homes. Active colonization of the islands by Europeans began at the end of the 18th century, and a significant number of the historical monuments preserved on the islands belong to this period.

Some, like Man-o-War, had thriving communities since colonial times, when English loyalists fled America after the War of Independence. The island has served as a center of boat construction for more than two hundred years and traditional boat building was still ongoing when we visited.

Elbow Cay was great for hiking as a significant part of the island was occupied by centuries-old gardens. The largest settlement on Elbow Cay is Hope Town, which has an iconic lighthouse and a historical museum in one of its most beautiful buildings. It housed invaluable manuscripts and photographs about the history of the city, as well as treasures saved from numerous wrecks. I hope it has survived.

Green Turtle Cay, which had only a small resort when we were there, had gone upscale and now apparently has a new marina. I pray for the people. Homes and docks can be rebuilt. The Abaco Islands all told are home to about 17,000 people. The UN says that almost all will need aid including food, clean water and shelter.

Click on this link to view the Composite animation by The New York Times showing the path Hurricane Dorian took.  (Source: Satellite imagery from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.)

Dorian was super-powerful, and it was moving at a snail's pace. Dorian next lumbered westward and stalled over Grand Bahama Island, wobbling back and forth over Freeport for 24 hours. I can't imagine living through that. No pictures are coming out of there yet, but I think one can assume the worst. Grand Bahama was subjected to a particularly brutal pummeling as this large and very powerful storm, this time sitting for much longer than usual in one place, was unrelenting, retaining its category 5 status through landfall. It's the strongest storm to hit the Bahamas ever, they say. Some people apparently survived when the eye stalled over Freeport enabling them to seek new shelter when theirs was destroyed. A man swam to his fishing boat after his home was flooded to the ceiling and his wife drowned. There are going to be disturbing stories about this monster. The airport is still underwater.

As more photos are released, the full extent of Dorian's fury becomes evident. Is this the new normal?

Dorian, now a category 2, is heading for the United States. It's skirting north along the coast of Florida and it is now over the warm waters of the Gulf Stream, so it's not likely to lose strength. It looks like the eye might come ashore in South Carolina. The hurricane warnings are extending up to Wilmington. And there are two more tropical storms churning out there right now and two more possibly forming behind them. Is it the height of the hurricane season?  

Aerial video footage of Marsh Harbour can be seen here. Recovery may take years.