The Tribune

EDITOR, The Tribune

Looking at the devastation dealt Florida by hurricane Ian, I shudder to think where we here in the Bahamas would have been if it had come our way.

I remember many years ago when faced with a similar fate — although we thought it the end of the world then, it was relatively nothing by comparison to the near miss that we have just had with Ian – and to think that the hurricane season is not yet over, in fact it is just getting into its stride and so many prayers will have to be said before the season ends in the hope that the tiny Bahamas will be spared.

But looking at the present photographs of the many destroyed buildings in Florida takes me back many years when a hurricane hit the Bahamas and then moved on to Florida, leaving much damage in its wake in both areas. There was much discussion at the time comparing the damage in both the Bahamas and Florida. Although the same ferocity of winds, it was being said that the Bahamas fared better because generally Bahamian homes were more sturdily built than those in Florida.

Photographs taken at the time seemed to prove them right, but I cannot say if it were true, except it greatly influenced a decision that my husband I were about to make for our future home. It was a marvelous way of building that was all the rage at the time in the U.S. and to which we were very much attracted until the hurricane brought us to our senses.

A U.S. company had arrived in Nassau with a new idea on the market of a home that had to be removed from its packaging and put together like a child’s Lego set. No carpenters, cement mixers - builders of any sort - a ready-made home that just had to be taken out of its packaging and put together like a child’s toy - a true life-size Lego set and what a beauty it was! We had never seen anything so spectacular. We were much attracted to what was going on in the market and seriously considered signing up for the ready-made home.

And then came the hurricane - and it was that hurricane that made the decision for us. Photos of the damaged homes suggested that they might have been of the same construction as those about to be introduced to the Bahamian market.

After that hurricane - all we heard was that there was more damage to the homes in Florida than those in the Bahamas, which, it was claimed, seemed better built than those in Florida and thus better able to withstand the devastating hurricane winds. Needles to say that hurricane made the decision for us as to what type of home we would build and we never heard anymore about the magnificent lego set that presumably was about to go on the market in Nassau.

Seeing all the lumber strewn around in the hurricane damaged Florida area reminded us of what we had almost purchased many years go - the lumber floating around in Florida’s flooding reminded us of that beautiful Lego set home that we heard no more of after the hurricane of that year many years ago. I now wonder how many homes that went down in this hurricane were of that vintage.

AN OLD TIMER

Nassau,

October 4, 2022.