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Bob Williamson <marlowl@candw.ag> is an artist and author living in Antigua (see his art at http://www.jalypso.com/harmony/) who sent me his account of damage on the island. It's notable that I live on the North West of the island and heard that the South East got it the worst. He lives in the South East and reports the opposite. I guess we all heard that it was worse some place else! Never the less his account of events in English Harbour are most interesting:

"Dear Nick,

Thanks for your suggestion that I participate in your web site about the bad press that Antigua always gets after a hurricane. After Luis "YachtingWorld" published two editorials about the trashing of the island. But, when I protested that the worst result of Luis was the kind of rubbish they were publishing , they had the grace to publish my letter. Anyway, this time I sent them a piece as soon as I got power back and they're printing it in the next issue, with some photographs.

The piece below was also recently published in "All at Sea"

ANTIGUA AND HURRICANE GEORGES BY BOB WILLIAMSON

Canadian travel agents are saying that Antigua was trashed by that bad French Hurricane "Georges". This is not true. Antigua is fine. The cleanup began smartly the day after and now, as I write on the 29th of September, water is back on and the power is marching down the new highway from St. John's. Not bad considering that after Hurricane Luis we waited five weeks for power. By October 3rd fresh, eager new leaves were bursting forth on trees and bushes.

At 9.30pm on September 20th the lights went out so we knew Georges was on the doorstep. But we also knew that Georges had suddenly dropped down to a Category 3, not gone up to a No.5 as predicted. In English Harbour we got a bad Northerly for a couple of hours, then the eye crossed overhead and there was a dead, eerie calm for an hour. At midnight the Eastern wall of the eye hit with the force and roar of an elderly 747, with gusts up to 180mph. That's when the damage was done - lots of roofs went flying; trees were stripped and, of course, it was from the South.

Most of the rain came with it. But not the ten predicted inches. The dining room at Limey's was demolished. Yachts that were spliced and knitted together into the mangroves in Tank Bay in front of Admiral's Inn suddenly had seven foot waves over their transoms. Gusts of cursing were elevated to the status of true collectibles, but all the boats survived with the odd busted cleat, and bruised ribs on hulls and skippers. An old coastal freighter that had dropped her hook amidst the mangroved yachts in Ordnance Bay broke its chain and changed the pecking order of the tidy row of boats, causing another flurry of memorable dialogue.

Most of the damage occurred on the West coast of the island. Jolly Harbour emerged to discover a lot of damage to the shopping complex (broken glass, gardens wrecked by flying debris). Many boats had damage to rails and superstructure and from riding up onto the docks. Jac Housewright's boat "New Dimensions" had smashed windows and a large hole three feet north of the waterline. Ten boats in the yard were gently bowled over. (Jolly Harbour is fine now, see my report). Johnson's Point was fairly trashed and Hawksbill Hotel was damaged but Nelson's Dockyard and the Yacht Club Marina in Falmouth pulled through remarkably well. Galleon Beach, the famous home of the Red Stripe Sailing Week BBQ party, was badly damaged, with five villas knocked out, and the Inn lost its bar and some roofs. Rock the Dock's roof is now, we think, in Mexico. The Museum was hit hard and one whole balcony was destroyed.

All things considered Antigua came through with flying colours. The sea wall in Nelson's Dockyard has now, however, reached its eleventh hour of viability and it is vital that a programme of aid to restore it begins. Several plans to raise the $US3M are being considered. If you'd like to be a part of this historic project just send a contribution to Nelson's Dockyard Sea Wall Restoration Fund, c/o National Parks Authority, Nelson's Dockyard, English Harbour, Antigua, West Indies.

Bob Williamson, English Harbour, Antigua. Tel/Fax: 268 463 8744 E-mail: marlowl@candw.ag

---

Liz Marlow of Magic Carpet Yacht Charters & Marketing Services http://www.jalypso.com/magic is also at marlowl@candw.ag. She to writes about damage in the Dockyard:

"Dear Nick

You are putting so much effort into publicizing the progress being made with the clear up after Hurricane Georges. Thank you.

I was in Newport Rhode Island at the time of Georges, representing the Antigua Marine Trades Association at the Newport International Boat Show. There were quite a number of people there from Antigua and we were all following carefully the hurricane's track. It was an extremely worrying time to know what might have been happening and to be so helpless. The morning after the storm I was able to reach Antigua by cellular phone and receive the news that there had been damage to parts of the Dockyard, but nowhere near as bad as it could have been. I came back to the island on 28th September, earlier than planned, and was amazed at the progress made with the clear up. Its now three weeks after Georges and its almost back to normal in English Harbour - roofs have been repaired, fences tidied up, electricity fully restored and gardens looking well pruned, and getting greener.

Thanks and best regards

LIZ"

AntiguaToday's hurricane Georges Archive:

Hotels & Accomodation * Beaches & Environment * Activities & Businesses * Barbuda * Album of post Georges Antigua * Government Releases * Readers letters * Olivers History of the West Indies * Latest News

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