The Tribune

By NICOLE BURROWS

I remember like yesterday being in my last semester in college, in my dorm room, with my freshman, swimmer roommate, and her TV, watching The Weather Channel, seeing Hurricane Floyd spinning over the whole Bahamas archipelago at once.

That hurricane had made a beeline from the African coast to The Bahamas ... okay, maybe a somewhat curved line, but you get my point. It didn’t shift its direction and almost appeared to be on a mission to clean up the islands as it went along. I don’t recall feeling too concerned back then, even though the storm looked really intimidating on radar.

And though Floyd seemed very intent on its path, I wasn’t overwhelmingly concerned for my people. I guess it’s partly because I was carrying a six-course load and just trying to graduate and get out of college, but also because I felt confident that my people would be fine; we had weathered many hurricanes before and made it through. Even the so-called ‘clapboard houses’ with tin roofs stayed strong during many hurricanes. Though, I’m sure building with concrete and steel plays a helpful role.

Hurricane Matthew, like Floyd, seemed to be on a mission, even though it didn’t take a beeline towards The Bahamas along the usual hurricane track. With Matthew, I was more concerned, probably because I’m older now and more aware of the possibilities. I’m not as distracted as I was when I was in college … all that youthful preoccupation. Being older - I can’t believe Floyd was 17 years ago - also makes you feel more responsibility I suppose, and being away from my loved ones - especially when I can’t physically be there to help - is unnerving. The internet and social media and voice over IP (VOIP) calls make it less unsettling, but when those things fail it gets more emotionally complex for those of us away from our nearest and dearest.

Other storms over the decades hadn’t hit New Providence … the outer islands often shielded the main island. I have family on other islands, but family islanders always seem more prepared for nature than Nassuvians … the people from ‘the city’.

And in the city, in the aftermath of Matthew, the afterMatthew, if you will, so many things are happening and even more is coming to light.

No power

We do understand why few people have power; we have seen the decapitated trees and snapped poles and popped power lines so it’s not surprising that power is out for so long. We even understand why the hospitals, hotels and grocers should get their power supply reconnected first, even if they have generators. Obviously those comprise some essential services to Bahamians and visitors. But no power for so many, nevertheless, is creating other problems: no refrigeration and cooling for the average Bahamian and no air-conditioning for the more well-to-do Bahamians. In theory it sounds basic, but in reality the outcome is multiplied.

I suppose we’re lucky this was not a July or August storm in the extreme summer heat, or people would be far less patient and far more restless. But I’ve heard so many stories where people can’t even get a cold drink, and I wonder why on earth those with power aren’t making ice and providing ice and cold drinks, drinking water, fruit juices and energy drinks, to those without power … those without ice … those without cold beverages. And not for money, like the immigrants across the street trying to charge you $2 to charge your phone (would they do that to their own people in Haiti or Jamaica?), but for the opportunity to help when so many people need help. Where is the real native Bahamian spirit? Where is the authentic charity and humility of Bahamians?

I’ve heard some uplifting stories of good Samaritans helping people clean yards and clearing roads of debris. But where is the average charity? You know ... the camaraderie, the thing that connects the wider population, that togetherness. That bond that should unite us when we all suffer the same thing at the same time. I guess maybe they’re fighting it all out at the gas stations? Things over people.

Hopefully, by the time this article goes to print, 75 to 80 per cent of customers will have power restored, as the deputy general manager of engineering at BEC/BPL indicated three days ago could be reasonably expected within three days.

No phone

Because people are preoccupied with no power service, maybe it’s escaped their notice that BTC mobile phone service (I can’t speak for landline service) has been sporadic to nonexistent. I’ve seen people posting on Facebook “thanks BTC for keeping us connected in the storm”, but that’s not the across-the-board feedback that I’m getting, certainly not from my family and friends.

While those with power may have had their cable/internet supply restored and access to email and social media, those who have no power only have their basic phone functions to communicate their condition to their loved ones. While BTC seems to think everything is fine, since the day the hurricane hit New Providence five days ago, I can only dial into the country on BTC mobile network maybe once every day or two, and my people can’t dial out even within the country. They constantly get network error messages, sometimes the phone doesn’t ring at all, or it goes straight to voicemail.

So from the perspective of those with no or intermittent phone service, it appears BTC can’t handle the communications demand, which I suppose should come as no surprise really as they could barely handle it before without a hurricane. I’m not buying that everything is well with BTC; I feel like they are downplaying their challenges and maybe I’m not an expert on the topic of mobile phone service and mobile phone networks, but I thought the mobile network was supposed to be less susceptible to downed phone lines than the hard-line network.

Thank goodness text messages can go through most times, or else I’d have no contact at all with my family. Not everyone can afford data plans. Really, not everyone can afford texting. I’m here racking up a bill to calm my anxiety about my family’s wellbeing and so are my relatives as they try to report their predicaments to me via text.

I heard BTC made a statement about the company giving a $5 credit to every postpaid and prepaid customer in light of the hurricane. If BTC really wanted to be charitable, they would remove all charges incurred for the most intense days of the hurricane and the days following, especially knowing that their network is not meeting the needs of their customers. In spite of the fact that those who have phone service can tell them they’re connected, via Facebook, those who aren’t having service, maybe an equivalent number of people, can’t tell them that they’re not having service.

So how does BTC know, really? The gratitude expressed to them on Facebook is not a reliable measure of their success through the storm.

Utilities credits

That said, if all the utility companies really wanted to exemplify charitable spirit they would credit every Bahamian customer’s account for the duration of the hurricane and its immediate aftermath. BEC/ BPL knows that their lines are down. Cable Bahamas knows their lines are down and when their service is down because power is down they know their customers can’t use the service that they may technically still have. I really expect to see a minimum of three to five days of service credit on every Bahamian utility company’s bills, if Cable really cares, if the Bahamas is really BTC country, and if BEC/BPL really wants to provide cost effective service. Thankfully, it seems water supply on New Providence has not been interrupted, other than for a brief period or two, though I’ve not heard anything much about water supply in the hardest hit/most densely populated areas of New Providence.

Emergency declaration

Prior to Hurricane Matthew’s arrival, as in within 24 hours of the hurricane, Prime Minister Christie made a non-committal statement about declaring a state of emergency in the country. Basically, if things got really bad somewhere down the line, it seems he would think it was time to declare an emergency.

Someone please explain to the nation’s leader, the one every person in the Bahamas relies on to make the best decisions for the people in the wake of a natural disaster, how declaring a state of emergency works. The trick is you don’t want to wait for the chaos or the disaster, or your favourite post-hurricane word, ‘devastation’, before you call it.

The whole point is to prevent as much chaos and disaster as possible, and you do that on the front end not the back end. And when you visit these affected areas after the damage is done, ‘devastated’ as they are, don’t go scratching your head. Have some ideas in your giant noggin before you get there. Don’t stand around talking about people should volunteer when you won’t lift the first finger yourself, or how the job is too big for NEMA. So we can’t rely on the leader, the government, nor the national emergency management team for help? I thought we were independent? Thanks, Matthew, for the eye-opener. We had no idea of our level of dependence before now. I am indeed being sarcastic.

Who do Bahamians turn to now in their time of need? You see why the benefit of the doubt is hard to come by? A thousand times bitten, a million times shy.

Building integrity

One news headline read that Freeport now looks like an earthquake hit it. Official and unofficial reports suggest Nassau and New Providence, Grand Bahama and Andros are a mess. It’s difficult for me to comprehend, because when I left New Providence on a good day it looked like a wasteland. How much worse is it now? Are officials downplaying the overall impact of Hurricane Matthew, as well as the impact the storm has had in the northwestern Bahamas? There are many images coming out of the islands where buildings appear to have been gutted or flattened and many structures lost part or all of their roofs.

I do not say this to make light of the impact of the storm on people’s property or on their lives; even the most humble home is a cherished possession, particularly to a person who has very few possessions to start. I should know. But I want to use this chance to underscore the problem of low construction integrity and poor construction maintenance. We know that many structures in the Bahamas, in Nassau, on New Providence, on the family islands, aren’t built to code. And they aren’t built to code because very many Bahamians cannot afford to build to code, with best materials or methods. Often the people doing the building are not even licenced builders, or don’t have the knowledge or the resources to build a sound structure.

One video clip shows a roof blowing off of a home on New Providence. This clip was circulated in international media, where some of the comments made addressed the flaw in the design of a roof with a three-foot overhang, enabling the winds to literally peel it off like a sardine can.

Bahamians are deficient in resources and in knowledge and, as a result, the soundness or lack thereof of many structures damaged or ruined by Hurricane Matthew comes as no surprise.

Resourceless, unknowing and now possibly homeless. It’s unfortunate that my people have to live this way.

• E-mail nburrows@tribunemedia.net. Facebook and Twitter: @SoPolitiCole