SPRING & AUTUMN
IN ANTIGUA

This page documents the impact of the hurricane (Sept 98) on our environment. The effects described relate to the end of 1998. Today almost everything is back to normal.

Right after the passing of hurricane Georges it looked a little like autumn in Antigua (which we don't experience). SOME folliage had turned brown from wind burn (as you can see in this photo). BUT NEW SHOOTS RESTORED THE GREEN amazingly quickly and soon "Spring" was well on it's way!

This is the view from my terrace at Aiton Place out across Hodges Bay. We are right on the Northwest coast and took the full force of the early hurricane strength winds that struck Antigua. (Click for close-up). See what I mean about the brown leaves simulating an autumnal look, but devastated? I don't think so. (The tennis court didn't look too good BEFORE the storm). Those like me that have weathered 4 or 5 hurricanes will instantly take note of the perfectly upright utility pole. You didn't see many of those after LUIS.

 

Many of the brown, wind burned, plants that you see in the photo above, quickly gave way to new growth. Many property owners pruned their gardens hard and the tropical rain that passed Antigua a few weeks later (and went on to became killer hurricane Mitch), encouraged the new buds that were already gathering in little green clusters amid the brown. Some four weeks after the passing of Georges those buds sprang forth and Antigua rapidly began to gain it's regular green appearance.

 

 

I thought I had lost all my banana plants in the storm (the bananas are the big yellow stalks in the center thie photo above) and chopped the fallen trees back about two feet from the ground. Incredibly, ONLY THREE WEEKS after the storm, new shoots had grown 3 FEET!

Hard to believe? I wouldn't have believed it myself but the photo to the right shows the new leaves shooting up like narrow stalks from the thick trunks of the hewn trees.

Now the trees stand as strong healthy young adults and visitors to Aiton Place don't even notice that there was ever any damage.

 

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Darkwood Beach - Unfortunately Darkwood Beach sustained a lot of tree damage. Although the beach (sand) itself is still in good shape the damage to palms is more long lasting. Part of the joy of this area was the mass of palms that fringed the beach. Through a succesion of violent storms many trees lost their tops and now sit like a row of tall stalks along the beach. I fear it will be some years before this beautiful spot is restored to it's former glory.

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Dickenson Bay - Unfortunately the South end of Dickenson Bay was messed up and it seemed like Antigua Village had the worst of it. They had been doing some work moving boulders to create a sea break wall where their property meets the sea. That sea break protected the property but Georges messed up their beach and guests had to walk perhaps 50 yards North to an area where the beach was fine. As the beach progresses North to Sandals, Halcyon etc It was in great shape.

I am pleased to report that the problem is now solved and the sand filled area above the sea wall makes a nice terrace for lounging with a cool pina collada.

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English Harbour

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Fort James Beach faired much better. The back of the beach was messed up years ago by a development that was never completed but since Georges the beach has widened tremendously (particularly near the fort) and is now much more attractive than before. Miller's by the Sea moved there after LUIS and now offers a broad terrace, bar, restaurant & and occasional live bands & watersports.

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Half Moon Bay - Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1998 08:42:02 -0300 This frank report from MARTHA WATKINS GILKES <gilkesm@candw.ag> Organization: FANTA SEA ISLAND LIMITED OF ANTIGUA, WEST INDIES on debris at Half Moon Beach shows the frustration of dealing with hurricane damage. Half Moon Bay is a spectacular beach but the hotel that was there was a fatal victim of LUIS in 1995. Consequently the beach has no one immediately clearing the debris like beaches with operational hotels. Although this kind of damage is normally cleared away in a few weeks, first impressions of the scale of the clean up can be demoralizing.

"NICK... a short report... will be back to you on MILL REEF later..

The biggest problem with the beach: TREE DAMAGE... many uprooted... and a lot of garbage that has washed up - both man made and seaweed.... this will have to be cleaned up somehow...AND WILL BE sooner or later.

The beautiful white sand is STILL THERE although there are some rocky areas which will probably be covered over in time. ... still be one of our most beautiful beaches and certainly by "the season", will be ready to be enjoyed by the tourists and locals alike."

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Jabberwock Beach

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Runaway Bay faired well this time. In LUIS it was VERY hard hit and much of the beautiful beach was eroded. Georges kindly returned the beach and now the South end by Sandhaven Hotel is quite splendid.

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South end of the Antigua - Alan B. Scholl (scholla@candw.ag) http://www.candw.ag/admin/alans.html two weeks after the storm reported....

"I took a drive around the south and I think damage reports have been exaggerated in comparison to LUIS. Yes, there was damage and there were roofs lost but I did not see the kind of relentless damage left by LUIS. I do recall the images of a house that "exploded" after LUIS. You saw no signs of such.

Over the weekend even more areas were "lighted up" as the power company APUA continues to restore its infrastructure. Things are normalizing and almost business as usual. Unfortunately I was not a lucky recipient of power but I suspect sometime this week we should be connected to the grid." (courtesy The Caribbean Hurricane Page Mon, 28 Sep 1998 )

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NEW ROADS ON THE ROAD AGAIN AND SIGNS

Those of you who have visited Antigua before will remember the challenge of touring the island by car. For some years tourists and locals have had to contend with navigating bumpy roads with no signs to advise where they are headed. Well relief is at hand. Over thirty miles of road have been laid or resurfaced on Antigua this year. This brings to 100 miles the total length of improved road and eases the scenic coastal ride. In addition, forty directional street signs have been added to the landscape so, next season, getting around Antigua should be much easier. Typical..... I was surfing around to see what other post Georges information sites were out there. It was unfortunate that an Altavista search of "Antigua and Barbuda" (or was it :Antigua & Barbuda") produced at position # 19 a very woeful report about damage here from my old friend Martha Gilkes. The storm was hardly over when Martha picked her way through the debris in her garden and reported her "first impressions" of storm damage to The Caribbean Hurricane Page. It's typical of the way the things we write on the net show up in the darnedest places. It's a pity that Altavista didn't show the following, more optimistic, report which she made only a few days later.

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Date: Sat, 26 Sep 1998 16:15:15 -0300
From: MARTHA WATKINS GILKES (gilkesm@candw.ag)
Subject: LIFE GOES ON AND GETS BETTER!!!

Antigua is really pulling itself together! It was only 6 days ago that we were battening down the hatches and thank goodness most took this thing seriously and were prepared..... because we certainly took a terrible lashing... However, already there are BUDS ON MANY PLANTS... many phones are still working (don't know how as I drive over my line several times a day...) and electricity is being restored quickly (not to me...as I am 14 miles away from "civilization" so don't expect this right away...and my 3 little miracles of life I told you about in an earlier posting (the new born baby love birds who weathered the hurricane OUTSIDE and went 48 hours with no food or mama to tend them...) are thriving after being rescued. Each day there are new colors coming out... blues/ greens/ peach tones...and each day it seems they think I AM THE MOTHER BIRD as I feed them! They have helped me keep faith in restoration/ clean up of major mess and knowing that our PARADISE ANTIGUA will come back... So guys... give us a few more weeks and we will be ready for our wonderful tourists to come back and enjoy it with us!

I have not resumed my scuba diving business so cannot tell you the state of the reef. We know it will be badly damaged as the waves and beach damage was major... but, life the baby birds...that toowill recover... Our thoughts have been with all the others in the path of the storm... the Gulf Coast now... and just know, no matter how bad it seems, it will get better (as long as Gert does not tell us about ANOTHER STORM.) Bless him for the great need he has filled with STORM 98..."

In fact Martha and my wife Gloria (known locally as the parrot lady) were swapping feeding formulas for Martha's fledgling lodgers as the storm approached! We were both pleased when despite all odds they survived.

There will be more here next time you stop by.

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