Hurricane Damage in Man-O-War Cay

Man-O-War Cay – 3 kilometres walked, 1 mile in dinghy

In September of 2019, Hurricane Dorian landed in the Abacos with sustained winds of 185 mph and gusts over 200. 35 people in the Abacos and 8 in Grand Bahama died as a result of the hurricane.

After over five years, the damage is still evident on Man-O-War Cay. Concrete foundations with no trace of a building, many houses with their roofs torn off, smashed windows, and fallen walls. In the channel are sunken boats, boats with their tops ripped off, and so much debris on the seabed, from dock pilings to boat parts to tires. Most of the buildings on the island are new, after having been either rebuilt or repaired and the island is taking shape. We saw construction happening everywhere with building materials piled up in front of houses and on the streets, so the reconstruction of the island continues. Interestingly, the landscape is lush with trees and plants, which restored themselves quickly.

We had a bad night, woken up constantly by the strong winds as they tossed SeaLight around and created many fantastic new banging, whipping, vibrating, and slapping noises we hadn’t heard before. I was up on the deck at least three times trying to figure out what was causing one slapping noise and I tightened lines and adjusted the boom until it went away. But once I was back in bed it took about five minutes before the noise started again, with renewed vigour each time.

It remained windy all day, but we did go into the island for a walk, did some route planning in the luxurious quiet of the town library, and the hours slid by effortlessly.