By DENISE MAYCOCK
Tribune Freeport Reporter
dmaycock@tribunemedia.net
MANY businesses in the commercial and light industrial sector of Freeport are closed for business, having suffered major flood damage and significant inventory loss due to Hurricane Dorian.
Storm surge swept throughout the entire business district off Queen's Highway, flooding some establishments with up to six feet of water as the Category Five storm stalled over Grand Bahama for two days.
Hundreds of businesses are affected and losses are estimated in the millions. Several major retail stores have shut down temporarily due to a total loss of inventory.
Among those stores is the Dolly Madison Home Centre, where damaged goods were piled up outside the establishment on Oak Street, off Queen's Highway. Also affected were Crown Ice and Water Depot, and Solomon's Wholesale.
Although the area is prone to flooding during hurricanes, James Rolle, general manager of Dolly Madison, never expected the water level to reach as high as it did inside the store.
"We were flooded throughout the store; we had at least six feet of water which affected all our operations from our offices to our warehouses, and even our service department. So, we had practically a total washout of our inventory," he said.
"This is the first time from my knowledge this store has had such severe damage as it has had with Dorian."
All the damaged goods have been cleared out of the store and placed in the front parking lot for insurance purposes.
"It will add up to millions of dollars in losses. It is piled up here because of the insurance so they can make their assessment," he said.
Dolly Madison is one of the premier retail stores on the island. It employs nearly 70 Bahamians.
According to Mr Rolle, employees have been busy over the past two weeks working, taking all the damaged inventory out of the building, and cleaning up debris.
In terms of the future operation of Dolly Madison, Mr Rolle said the company will launch a contingency plan to resume a small-scale operation soon.
"I would say within another week and a half, we expect to cater to our customers," he said.
When asked about downsizing, Mr Rolle said that right now the primary goal is to get the building open for business. He said that in any catastrophic situation, recovery is always the most difficult part of any operation.
Crown Ice and Water Depot, the largest water and ice supplier on the island, also sustained significant damage. When The Tribune visited the establishment on Tuesday, it was closed for business.
Solomon's Wholesale on Queen's Highway, which is next door to Crown Ice, was also closed.
On Logwood Road, we stopped at Big G's Plumbing Hardware where owner Charles Ince, his family and a small crew were busy clearing out the building of damaged goods and inventory.
"We lost everything," said Mr Ince, who has operated a successful family business since 1976 in Freeport.
Although retired from the business that he has turned over to his children, Mr Ince was there helping with the cleanup.
He said the business had about five to six feet of water inside during the storm. "We never had it (flood) that high. One hurricane, we had about maybe 12 to 18 inches (of water)," he said.
The future of the business, he said, "depends on what the insurance company does because we lost everything."
"We need to get inventory and get set back up. The building needs to be repaired. So, now we are just waiting on these insurance companies because the first thing they jump up and tell you is that you are underinsured. You could have $20 million worth of insurance and only got a $10,000 building, and you are under insured."
Mr Ince said that Big G's the family's only income. "It's my kids, this is their only income; this is our income. I have since retired, but I am back out here now working," he said.
Further down the street, Prestige Auto, a car dealership that sells Japanese vehicles, was also hit hard, according to owner Kurt Sawall.
"We had flooding more than five feet on the south side, which was underwater, but we only had over a foot of water inside the office building.
"I never had any flooding (in past hurricanes). This is the first time it flooded," Mr Sawall said.
There was also major structural damage to the car showroom building, which had totally collapsed.
"I was not expecting that (storm) to cause so much damage - a building like that with so much heavy steel construction should never collapse like that," he said.
"In Matthew, we had some roof damage, but it was still intact, but now the whole building collapsed," he said.
Despite the damage, Prestige Auto is still open for business. Prior to the storm, Mr Sawall had moved his inventory to higher ground. "We have 15 cars for sale, they were not damaged by the storm. I had moved them before the storm and just put them back out today," he said.
Businesses along Yellow Pine Street were also destroyed, including Mulligan's Meat and Restaurant Supply; Media House, where The Tribune Ltd, 100 Jamz, and Kiss 96 FM Radio stations are located; and Kelly's Freeport Ltd, the largest hardware and building material supplier on the island were also severely affected by flooding.
Comments
proudloudandfnm 4 years, 6 months ago
Freeport has been in an economic depression now for years, they're saying over 80% of all businesses here lost their premises and inventory. Not many businesses were making money before the storm, we have little to no tourism and our maritime industry has been depressed for years. Hard to see why anyone would re-build. Freeport just can't catch a break.
And this FNM government has been no help, none whatsoever. Hard to say who's the worst, government or port authority. Both are useless.
No wonder so many are saying they're leaving.....
Freeport's future has never looked so bleak...
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