The Caribbean Hurricane Page Updates from the Islands Georges - Anguilla http://www.gobeach.com/hurr.htm

Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 21:06:08 -0300
From: SN Janin (snjanin@anguillanet.com)
Subject: Re: Anguilla

Hi from Anguilla.  We made through Georges in pretty good shape.  Power was
turned off on the island at about 4:30am Sunday morning.  George started to
make his presence felt at about 4:00am.  Some power was restored yesterday
and we got power back this afternoon.  Phone lines for most of us were fine.
George was at his worst between approximately 7am and 9am Monday morning.  By
late afternoon, the wind had become bearable and there was not much rain.
All in all Anguilla was let off very lightly!  We send our thoughts and
prayers to our Caribbean neighbors who did not do so well.  Please check
http://news.ai for more information about Georges in Anguilla.  And thank you
to everyone who wrote and sent their prayers and best wishes.

[Tue, 22 Sep 1998 11:50EDT] - Mollie Tichy (The Wescott Group Inc., (516) 425-0900) forwarded us the following press-release:

HURRICANE GEORGES SPARED ANGUILLA

The Valley, Anguilla
September 22, 1998, the island of Anguilla was spared by Hurricane Georges.
A couple of trees went down, but Anguilla is nearly unscathed.  By tomorrow 
everything will be back to normal, stated Alan Gumbs, Chairman of The Anguilla
Tourist Board. At 5AM on September 21st , Hurricane Georges passed approximately
forty miles south of Anguilla.  Wind speeds had slowed as Georges reached the
63rd parallel and the island experienced a dry storm with occasional gusts of
winds up to 110 mph.  Rains followed in the wake of Georges, which will assist 
with any minor landscape repairs. I drove the island end to end yesterday, and 
everything was fine.  Our palm trees are standing and some of the beaches have 
more sand, commented Mimi Gratton, Executive Director of The Anguilla Hotel and
Tourism Association.  Power to the island will be fully restored by the day's 
end and telephone lines are operational. This year Anguilla's preparations for 
the hurricane season included a Hurricane Awareness Week in June, regular meetings
of the Disaster Preparedness Committee, set communication channels with local 
media, monitoring forecasts, utility drills and the distribution of a Hurricane
Preparedness Booklet.  The fact that Anguilla has once again been spared the 
wrath of a major hurricane can be attributed to God's providence, mindful 
preparation, and sound precautionary measures.  We are thankful that on the day 
after we can to attend to business as usual, commented Candis Niles, Deputy 
Director of The Anguilla Tourist Board.

[Mon, 21 Sep 1998 00:10EDT] - Sally Janin reporting from Anguilla:

     It's almost midnight in Anguilla.  The wind has picked up considerably to
     about 40mph and is constant with higher gusts.  We live on the West End of
     the island and can hear the heavy surf pounding both on  the Atlantic and
     Caribbean sides.  It's just starting to rain very heavily. We expect the next
     few hours to be rough.  This may be my last post for a while as we expect to
     (but hope not to) lose electricity, phone lines, etc. soon.

     Thanks to everyone who has written to send us Good Luck.  Sally

[Sun, 20 Sep 1998 18:47EDT] - SN Janin reporting from Anguilla:

     We took another ride around Anguilla late this afternoon.  It looks like
     90-95% of all homes and businesses are shuttered or boarded up.  Things are
     still relatively calm here - steady wind with small gusts and no rain ...
     yet.  Hopefully, the early morning won't bring too much trouble for Anguilla
     and I'll be able to send another report.  Please tell everyone trying to call
     into the Caribbean from the US now that lines have been very busy for the
     last few hours and that is generally why they can't get through.  (My husband
     is watching TV from Guadeloupe and they are under Alert No. 2, which means
     stay home or in a shelter.  They will feel the brunt of Georges and much
     sooner than we will.)

[Sun, 20 Sep 1998 13:45EDT] - SN Janin reporting from Anguilla:

     We drove around this morning and I'm happy to report that the majority of
     houses and businesses are boarded/shuttered up.  The wind has become
     steady though not very strong yet.  We've had a couple of rain squalls
     and the sea is becoming rough.  Lots of boats have been pulled from the
     water.  The cable system has been cut back to about 3 stations
     (including the Weather Channel) as they prepare for the storm.
     Unfortunately it looks clear that Anguilla is going to be north of the
     hurricane so we are prepared for some rough weather.

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