Hurricane Erika in Anguilla--Close Call!
From the Anguilla Local News - Site Map.

Everyone on Anguilla battened down as Hurricane Erika threatened on Saturday, September 6th, 1997. So far the tropical storm season had been amazingly light in the islands -- reportedly due to El Nino. Anguilla escaped the full fury of this storm because it turned away at the last moment and just brushed past. But Erika was close enough for everyone to practice their hurricane preparedness (putting up shutters, plug cistern intakes, etc.).

There was little damage from Erika. However, there was one boat run ashore at Sandy Ground, just in front of Johnnos. All but three boats had been pulled out of the water prior to the storm, and two boats road it out safely at anchor. The last was not so lucky. As of last week it was still waiting for its foreign owner to come and rescue it.

AHTA reports that Cap Juluca lost a portion of their beach. This was confirmed by a Cap Juluca guest Stephanie at Shoal Bay beach last weekend. Cap Juluca, one of the few resorts that stayed open in Anguilla, received only a handful of guest cancellations as a result of the Hurricane and even welcomed new guests the day after the eye passed by.

Thanks to all the people who sent emails of concern all through the storm, as the wind gusted higher and wailed through the shutters. I posted updates to my main news page as the storm progressed, since we never did lose phone and Internet. If you were a subscriber to the Anguilla Mailing List you would have received regular hurricane analysis and commentary tailored to Anguilla from Vince Cate on Anguilla:

By the 5 AM forecast from the National Weather Service we should have little trouble. Erika is even more to the North. The closest point will be about 8 am and then still 60+ miles away. The winds should be less than 50 MPH if it stays on this track. At 5 am it was about 180 miles due East of Anguilla and moving west north-west (300 degrees) at 11 MPH. -- Vince

The power company announced that it is our responsibility to turn off the power in our house as the storm peaks -- they won't be responsible for damage to our appliances. On Sunday, after Erika had apparently passed by harmlessly, we were hit by trailing thunderstorms and rain, causing our power to go out for several hours.

If you check the Internet during a hurricane threat, remember that Anguilla is located at 18.1N 63.1W. Here are some good tropical weather links:

• Gert van Dijken has a good web site dedicated to Hurricanes in the Caribbean, with reports from people on the islands during the passage of Erika.
• Caribbean Hurricane Page with Local Reports.
• WeatherNet
• National Weather Service-Latest Info
• PCS Weather Site
• National Hurricane Center
• Ohio State
• Hurricane Luis in 1995 - Anguilla News Reports

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