As the 2018 North Atlantic Hurricane Season hits its September peak, I find myself thinking back to the wintertime vacation that Monique and I took with my folks to Grand Bahama Island in The Bahamas. The weather was warm, the island beautiful, but the most memorable thing I learned was how hard it is for a Caribbean Island to build back after a major hurricane.
Grand Bahama Island was struck by Hurricane Matthew in October 2016. The hurricane made landfall in Freeport on the west side of the island as a Category Four hurricane, damaging 95% or more of the homes in some areas. Eighteen months later the devastation was still awful to see in some areas.
Beyond the physical impact, the economic impact lingers. One day, Monique and I took a walk along the beach in front of the Grand Lucayan resort in Port Lucaya, which has been closed since the hurricane struck. The resort has more than 1,000 rooms, 59% of all the rooms on the island. The owners, Hong Kong real estate company Hutchinson Whampoa, also known as Cheung Kong (CK) Property Holdings, decided to pocket the insurance money and sell off the property instead of rebuilding and reopening, leaving more than 1,000 former employees out of work and leaving many of the surrounding businesses with only a fraction of their previous trade. Only a couple of small pieces have thus far reopened.
When we visited this winter, this huge resort and casino was supposed to be sold off to a Canadian firm, the Wynn Group, and mostly reopened by August. That didn't happen. That didn't happen, perhaps as a result of Wynn Resorts owner Steve Wynn's problems after his history of sexual harassment was revealed. Instead, the government of The Bahamas itself purchased the resort in August 2018, hoping to eventually re-open it.
Despite all the damage ashore, the beach is still beautiful.
The Taino Beach Resort, where we stayed, also suffered a lot of damage. The storm surge rose to fill the unit we stayed in three or four feet deep. The resort reopened for business in just a few months, though the repairs still continue now, 18 months later.
In the meantime, this touristy island felt like a ghost town during what should have been its the high season. Hopefully for the sake of everybody who lives here they’ll be back in business this winter.
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(This post is part of a metadata tagging experiment on the ol' Patio Boat blog.)
Photo subjects
Hurricane Matthew | Q27058656 | Freeport | Freeport, Bahamas | Bahamas Freeport | 136086537 | Q867573 | Lucaya, Bahamas | Bahamas Lucaya | 148983536 | Q6696401
VIAF cluster hubs
North Atlantic Ocean
Atlantique (océan ; nord)
المحيط الأطلسي الشمالي
צפון האוקיינוס האטלנטי
Atlântico Norte, Oceano
VIAF ID: 172332360 (Geographic)
Permalink: http://viaf.org/viaf/172332360
Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea
カリブ海
הים הקריבי
VIAF ID: 236345924 (Geographic)
Permalink: http://viaf.org/viaf/236345924
Grand Bahama Island
Grand Bahama
Bahamas Grand Bahama
גראנד בהאמה (איי בהאמה)
Grand Bahama (Bahamas)
Grand Bahama Island
VIAF ID: 242312267 (Geographic)
Permalink: http://viaf.org/viaf/242312267
The Bahamas
Bahamas.
איי בהאמה
バハマ
VIAF ID: 131337264 (Geographic)
Permalink: http://viaf.org/viaf/131337264
Government of The Bahamas
Bahamas Government
VIAF ID: 148675372 (Corporate)
Permalink: http://viaf.org/viaf/148675372
Freeport
Freeport, Bahamas
VIAF ID: 136086537 (Geographic)
Permalink: http://viaf.org/viaf/136086537
Port Lucaya
Lucaya, Bahamas
VIAF ID: 148983536 (Geographic)
Permalink: http://viaf.org/viaf/148983536
Steve Wynn
Wynn, Steve, 1942-
Wynn, Stephen A.
Steve Wynn entrepreneur américain
Wynn, Stephen A. (American developer, born 1942)
VIAF ID: 137117761 (Personal)
Permalink: http://viaf.org/viaf/137117761
Wikidata items
North Atlantic Ocean
North Atlantic
North Atlantic Ocean (Q350134)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q350134
Atlantic hurricanes
Atlantic hurricane (Q2547976)
North Atlantic tropical cyclone | tropical storm | hurricane
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2547976
Hurricane Matthew (Q27058656)
14L | Tropical Storm Matthew
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q27058656
Caribbean Sea
Caribbean Sea (Q1247)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1247
Grand Bahama Island
Grand Bahama (Q866345)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q866345
The Bahamas
Bahamas (Q778)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q778
Freeport
Freeport (Q867573)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q867573
Port Lucaya
Lucaya, Bahamas (Q6696401)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6696401
Cheung Kong (CK) Property Holdings | CK Property Holdings | Hutchinson Whampoa
Hutchison Whampoa (Q15805)
Hutchinson Whampoa | Hutchison Whampoa Limited
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q15805
Cheung Kong Holdings (Q709535)
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q709535
Wynn Group | Wynn Resorts
Wynn Resorts (Q2274089)
Wynn Resorts Limited
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2274089
Steve Wynn
Steve Wynn (Q524369)
Stephen A. Wynn
https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q524369
Uncontrolled keywords
Grand Lucayan resort
Taino Beach Resort
Taino Beach
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