The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIANS in Florida braced for Hurricane Irma yesterday, a hurricane described by forecasters as the most dangerous storm to hit the state since the category five Hurricane Andrew did so in 1992.

Although Irma had been weakened from its impact on northern Cuba over the weekend, it brought storm surges and category two and three winds to Florida.

Dr Donald McCartney, a long-time Bahamian educator and professor at Barry University in Florida, was among the Bahamians in Florida affected by the storm. He said he spent 24 hours travelling with his wife from his home in Coconut Creek, Florida to Stone Mountain, Georgia where his daughter lives.

“We left Florida on Thursday once we thought we would get a direct hit,” he said. “We left because we figured that even with a slight blow there would be some impact. It took 24 hours to travel from Coconut Creek. We had to come out. Fort Lauderdale was right in the storm’s path. We’re north of Miami and it looks like you need to take a boat to move along Brickell Avenue. We’re not too far from the beach either. Anything that’s near to the beach I suspect will feel some affects of the hurricane.”

Although by 6.30pm indications were that at least the area near Coconut Creek experienced little more than some flooding and fallen trees, Dr McCartney said it was “up in the air” when he would return home.

“I hope by Thursday the latest,” he said. “That will depend on the condition of the roads. In these places, even though they are getting the remnants of the hurricane, they tend to have a lot of trees down.”

Dr McCartney didn’t regret not taking more items with him on the trip.

“I treat material things as they ought to be treated: if I lose it, I replace them,” he said.

One part of the experience he would not want to do again: waiting in line for gas.

“The night before we left we got in a tremendously long line at a gas station,” he said. “Every service station in the parameters where we live was out of gas. We found this one that I usually go to but left because the line was long. We had to go back to that one. It took half an hour before we actually reached the pumps. But I think we did the sensible thing by simply coming out.”

Dr McCartney said his wife, who rode out two hurricanes by herself here in The Bahamas, didn’t want to repeat the experience again so she headed to Florida before Irma struck this country.