Island Visitor
Reged: 12/19/02
Posts: 10396
Loc: Retraité
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What exactly do the islanders do other than hunker down when the winds blow? I know that the Bracians (Cayman Brac) head up the hills to the many caves and rarely if ever lose a soul in big storms. What about other islands? Seeing the damage to the hotel next door to Isle de France from Luis(?) lets me know that low-lying villas on St Barts would be at great risk. It seems that many on the island have family. Does everyone go to a family member's house that is higher in the hills? Certainly riding one out at sea level would be very risky.
And how many larger structures are there that could serve as shelters in the hills for the lowlanders? The rocky, mountainous topography of St Barts could be a natural fortress against hurricanes if properly used. Are there any leeward caves or shelters that people can evac to or is everyone left to their own devices when the winds blow?
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JEK
Moderator
Reged: 01/20/04
Posts: 10983
Loc: Northern Virginia
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Marius rode out Luis in his house, which is near Shell Beach. From what I gather that is the approach. Build a strong house, close the shutters and stock up on provisions for a few days. When it quiets down emerge and start cleaning up.
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Carnaval 2009: Mardi 24 Février 2009!!!!
JEK
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Mike R
Reged: 05/26/03
Posts: 15948
Loc: Stinson Lake - New Hampshire
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island homes are mostly cement cinderblock structures...as such...they will lose their roof but thats about it....
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Island Visitor
Reged: 12/19/02
Posts: 10396
Loc: Retraité
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I have little concern about the winds for most of the cinderblock houses. Smart construction.
I am talking storm surge here. If you are sea level, you can underwater and even a cinderblock building can be washed away in a strong enough surge.
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KevinS
Reged: 07/23/03
Posts: 3460
Loc: Boston
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St Barthians know a thing or two about building houses to survive hurricanes. The old traditional Case design sometimes used a living tree as a corner post - about as good an anchor as you could have back then. Current construction is usually some form of concrete wall, or perhaps the cinderblocks that MikeR mentioned. Hurricane shutters are common too.
During Luis some families took shelter in their cisterns - hopefully after draining them.
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tim
Moderator
Reged: 06/18/03
Posts: 6111
Loc: Vélo, Virginia, Vitet
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I saw only a handful of homes that had lost their roofs or had any roof damage after Lenny, a Cat 4 monster that stayed around for a couple of days. Roofers in St. B really know their stuff, especially considering 95% of roofs are plain old corrugated metal.
I don't know where the islanders go that have low-lying homes, but they probably head further up the hills. Indeed, it may be mostly vacation homes that are built in high risk areas.
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The best moderation is the least moderation.
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