Hope Town Hurricane - Memories

Hurricane Dorian
Hope Town, Bahamas
Now and Then
when I painted here in 2015...

Now: Quoted report and Now photos are from the Hope Town Facebook Page Sept 2, 2019
 
Then: In February 2015 I painted at Susan Abbot's Painting Workshop at Hope Town, Elbow Cay, Abaco, Bahamas, now devastated by a direct hit from Hurricane Dorian.
The Marsh Harbor Airport is still underwater and the ferries from Marsh Harbor to Hope Town, Elbow Cay, have sunk.

1
The walk today where we walked to meet for our workshop. Hurricane Dorian is the worst hurricane to ever hit the northern Bahamas in its recorded history with up 220 mph gusting winds, plus there were possible tornadoes.

2
Our studio house back then.
"When Hurricane Dorian reached Category 5 intensity, peaking with one-minute sustained winds of 185 mph and a minimum central pressure of 910 millibars the eye made landfall, a direct hit, in Hope town, Elbow Cay, Bahamas with a possible 15-23 ft. storm surge."

3
I stayed at the Hope Town Harbor Lodge. Everything was so lush and green. My room is still there, the yellow top left room (circled) remains, though the rest of the floor is gone, the Lodge devastated. An overturned white van is barely noticeable on the right. The Lodge's dock was or is (unknown) behind the person taking this photo across the parking lot at the water's edge. "No reports of injuries or casualties. All parts of the island were damaged, roofs gone, buildings demolished (probably tornadoes). Flooding has been reported and the dune in White Sound is gone. Some buildings were badly damaged but are still standing."

4
Hope Town Harbor Lodge Dock View
"In Hope Town, it's confirmed that the Harbour's Edge and Capt'n Jack's has been destroyed. Also, Abaco Inn was pretty much destroyed and villas G & H are gone. On Lubbers Quarters, Cracker P's took a direct hit." I used to enjoy dinner at the Harbour's Edge HERE (gone), nice memories still remain.

5
The Hope Town School
I visited the school and visited classrooms, where I was warmly greeted with the student's holding up their schoolbooks which had a short version of Nights of the Pufflings in it.
"Help is on the way through numerous sources including the US Coast Guard and private entities. Care must be taken because the waters surrounding the islands are strewn with debris, but some of the docks still exist in Hope Town and can be used."

6
Down the road, then.

7
Sea Spray, White Sound, Elbow Cay. See what the Sea Spray was like before on their web site HERE
"In the Man o War Harbor, all of the Albury, and G & L Ferries have sunk. Every boat including the ones in Eastern Harbour have sunk or are gone. On Monday Morning it's seen that a couple of docks are okay in the Harbour and they believe boats can get in."

8
It was a lovely place to paint, as seen here in Hope Town.

9
On one day our workshop painted here at the Firefly Sunset Resort, a great day. Their website with photos is HERE.

10
"Plans are in place for boats to leave Nassau with basic supplies for Hope Town as soon as the weather permits. Plans are being put in place stateside to organize the relief efforts from here."

My heart goes out to the Elbow Cay locals at this devastating time.

2015 Painting Workshop Day 1 HERE
2015 Painting Workshop Day 2 HERE
2015 Painting Workshop Day 3 HERE
2015 Painting Workshop Day 4 HERE