Abaco Update: The Resilience of Human Beings and Mother Nature

Please forgive the length of this update, which is going out to those who have an involvement and interest in Abaco. Thank you all for everything that you have done! Many of you have visited our little slice of paradise at The Abaco Club on Winding Bay and know firsthand the warmth of the people who live there, and the wonder of our magnificent beach, weather (almost always beautiful), golf, fishing, and many other amenities. Hopefully this will answer most of your questions and provide insight into something no one should ever have to experience.

Note: For those short on time, here’s the quick summary: Dorian was devastating and the loss in life and property was profound. But people are resilient, and Abaco is recovering. And thanks to the generous donations of many, and the incredible volunteer organizations who are helping here and elsewhere when disaster strikes, that recovery is faster than I could have imagined. The Abaco Club is open again and as magnificent as ever. But if you truly want to help the people of Abaco, the single most impactful thing you can do is come visit. Bring your tourism, your energy, and your hope now while it is most needed. And return home with your spirits renewed.

Background and Perspective

Hurricane Dorian hit Abaco on September 1^st with winds of approximately 200 mph. It was the worst natural disaster in the history of the Bahamas and one of the most powerful hurricanes ever recorded in the Atlantic. I once jumped out of a plane to skydive, reaching a terminal velocity of about 120 mph as my face contorted from the force of the wind. But Dorian had sustained winds of 200 mph with even higher gusts recorded. And raging seas that leveled an entire town. How does anyone, or anything, survive that?! And what happens afterward?

As with any approaching hurricane, especially in the tropics, we had already gone through our normal and necessary preparations, battening down the hatches and bolstering our defenses to protect against the wind and water to come. Unfortunately, not everyone else on the island had a staff and emergency protocols to follow. Nor would it have mattered much for those who stayed in the direct path of the storm, which turned out to be the center of the island, Marsh Harbour – where most of the people, businesses, cars and boats resided.

There are so many things that we in the US take for granted. If a road is blocked, we take another. If a pharmacy is closed, we find another. If our doctor is away, we find a different one… or go to the emergency room and complain about having to wait four hours. Our homes are stocked with food, and we know where to go if we run out. We can use our cell phones to contact people and services even if the Internet is down. But what if everything is down?

What Happened

Dorian leveled Marsh Harbour and many of the nearby islands and communities. It’s really that simple and that horrific. But it wasn’t just the unfathomable winds. The sea rose seven feet and higher – crashing and pounding and punishing everything in its path. It was relentless and totally unforeseen. If you lived in a one-story building, there was literally no place to hide. The wind and the water came in – incrementally at first, and then seemingly all at once. Buildings were torn asunder; where they once stood, there was now just debris to hold onto (and flying debris to watch out for). Many of you have seen the videos of people walking through town a few days later, passing by the bodies face down in the water. And behind every one of those bodies, and everyone who survived, is a heartbreaking, unimaginable story. And fortunately, most of those stories are ones of fortitude, resilience, and luck.

When the storm passed, our team quickly mobilized to assess the damage and decide what to do. People needed to be accounted for, property needed to be protected from further damage (even a small breach could potentially let in wind and water which can quickly turn to mildew and rot) and basic systems needed to be restored as quickly as possible.

Abaco is a big island, about 120 miles long, and shaped like an almost fully extended arm going north to south. Marsh Harbour, the biggest town as well as the name of the biggest airport and harbor, is located at the elbow. That’s where Dorian hit hardest. The airport ended up under seven feet of water for days. The main roads leading in and out of town were under three feet of water during that time, and the roads were also impassable from fallen trees and an army of abandoned cars that got flooded trying to escape.

Jim Hull is the only full-time private doctor on the entire island. He was away in Canada when Dorian hit. However, his home and clinic were destroyed. The primary supermarket, Maxwell’s, which lies just outside of Marsh Harbour, sustained significant damage and shut down. And the smaller markets, especially the ones in the middle of the island, were swept away. Given that most of the island lost its power when lines went down and major parts of the grid were damaged, food was spoiled everywhere.

Our community, The Abaco Club, lies 20 miles south of Marsh Harbour, and miraculously (and thankfully) sustained little serious loss. Granted, we lost hundreds of trees and most homes had some damage, but we didn’t experience the rising tides and raging seas that swept through Marsh Harbour. Plus, our buildings were constructed to US standards and sit at higher elevations. Everything in life is relative – knowing what had happened elsewhere, we consider ourselves incredibly lucky.

What We Did… And Continue to Do

We had emergency SAT phones at the club and were in contact with our onsite personnel throughout. After securing the property, we made a list of what needed to be done and planned for. Of primary concern was the safety and wellbeing of our 180 staff members. Given what occurred elsewhere on the island, we feared the worst. Amazingly, and gratefully, that didn’t happen.

One of the first things we did was hire a stateside task force of search-and-rescue professionals,  (primarily former US Special Forces) to help us identify all missing employees and assist where necessary, and to help us better protect our community as there had been reports of widespread looting. This group, Global Guardians, helicoptered in and set up operations, worked with our security team, and went about looking for the remaining people who were still unaccounted for. And a few days later, everyone and their immediate families were identified… and safe.

We also joined together with the neighboring communities of Little Harbour (where Pete’s Pub is) and Cherokee to secure the one entry point to our corner of the island, to ensure that no one got in who shouldn’t have.

As many of you know, we created the Abaco Relief Fund, a 501c3 foundation, to support the needs of our people and the surrounding community. The biggest heroes from my perspective are the relief organizations who come to the aid of Abaco and others around the world whenever disaster strikes: The Red Cross, Team Rubicon, World Central Kitchen (Jose Andres, who made headlines feeding Puerto Rico last year), All Hands & Hearts, Shelterbox, and many more. As it turned out, our club was the safe and secure place where most of these organizations set up shop. We were glad to offer a place to eat and sleep in safety and relative comfort as they set out to do the remarkable work they do. Special and enormous thanks to our many members at The Abaco Club who lent their homes to this effort.

As for our fund, we’ve raised just over $2.7M from a combination of our GoFundMe page and the generous donations of so many Southworth members. A committee was established of stakeholders, myself included, who are close to the ground and who must decide how to allocate funds. In addition to attending to the immediate needs of our staff (most of whom lost their homes and all their worldly possessions), we also worked with Dr. Hull to find and stock a mobile clinic so he could travel throughout Abaco and provide much-needed care. We’re also researching pharmacies-in-a box, which are solutions to providing accessible outposts for prescription and other common medicines throughout the island. The list goes on.

Initially, there was a flight to safety and most of the inhabitants were able to get to other islands as well as the US – although many were not allowed in to the States based on recent restrictions on refugees. Fortunately, we were able to help scores of our employees with food and shelter in Nassau, putting them up at the Baha Mar, a luxury resort with whom we had a good relationship (the contrast with Abaco was astonishing). And, as you might imagine, the psychological trauma for many has been enormous so we’ve brought in psychologists to meet with our staff.

Housing for our people was an immediate and critical need. In addition to the remarkable generosity of our members who opened their homes to many of the relief workers and our employees (who are essentially their friends and family), we researched more permanent options. Ultimately, we purchased 30 Coleman camper-trailers – two-bedroom apartments that we had fully furnished and stocked – thus providing lodging for approximately 100 individuals. These trailers now constitute a little village within the club, giving everyone enough time to fix their homes and find other suitable arrangements.

There are as many stories in Abaco as there are people there. Having just returned from a very special weekend celebration (explained in detail in the next section), I will only say that the tales of courage, of fear, of loss, of resilience, and of love and appreciation abound. Forty-eight hours after Dorian left the island, so did most of the media. On to the next calamity and headline to cover. That’s what sells papers and provides programming for the media. But the rebuilding of lives and infrastructure goes on.

What’s Next for Abaco?

Long before Hurricane Dorian ever appeared on a map, we had planned a big celebration on Abaco for the weekend of November 1^st. It was to be our annual Member/Guest golf tournament as well as the christening of the newly established Abaco Yacht Club (in Little Harbour). Many wondered whether we could, or should, stick to the original schedule. We had very strong feelings about this. We believed that we could, and should, stick to our schedule. In fact, it was more important now than ever.

Human beings need a purpose to survive and to truly thrive. And while we were able to help our Abaco community with much-needed resources to help rebuild their lives, we also needed to help them get back to a vibrant life, to feel that they were getting back to normal as soon as humanly possible, and hopefully to do even better than before. People often ask us how they can help. One obvious answer is to donate: Money, clothes, medical services, etc. But people also need hope! If no one comes to visit, things can spiral downward. If the tourist industry dries up, jobs will dry up, too. So, for us it was an easy decision: Full steam ahead.

And legions of people came. To show their support, to hug their friends, to celebrate the future, and to play golf and delight in the warm waters of one of the most beautiful bays in the world.

Our groundskeeping staff did an amazing job. The course was pristine (although I’m told it may take another month before they consider it perfect J), the beach was beyond magnificent, the food was terrific, and the smiles were everywhere.

Truth be told, it was a bit surreal that first night when we had the inaugural cocktail party at the new yacht club overlooking a postcard-perfect Little Harbour. We were sipping champagne while so many still struggled around the island. And yet, as I told the assembled crowd, we were doing the best thing possible for the people of Abaco. We were coming, in person, to support them… now and in the months and years ahead.

Granted, there is still so much that needs to be done. Marsh Harbour, 60 days later, is in the early stages of recovery. The streets are now clear and cars are about, but most of the buildings are rubble. And yet, signs of life and renewal—like the reopening of Maxwell’s last week, along with Pete’s Pub, Blackfly Lodge, The Delphi Club, and others—are peeking out everywhere. Abaco is a beautiful island, and The Abaco Club is truly a slice of paradise. Come visit soon and find out for yourself. You’ll be glad you did!

~ Joe Deitch