does anyone know how the situation is right now in point blanche, st maarten?
last i've heard there has been 400 mm of rain so far, horizotal rains. we are waiting at home in holland for any information, and we are very, very worried about our sister who is in point blanche right now.
thx

UPDATE AS OF TIME OF THE EYE
1. Philipsburg is flooded and badly damaged from surge on the seaside
2. The new port facility which was under construction (a couple million) has
sustained some serious damage
3. There were containers floating in the harbour early in the storm
4. The Great Salt Pond is overflowing and the water level has reached almost
to backstreet
5. Reports have it that the government building roof is about to/or has
lifted
6. The beac, bar, and road at the end of MAHO are all gone - leaving
Beaconhill isolated
7. Pelican, Simpsonbay, Beaconhill, Cupecoy area are taking the brunt of the
storm (or were when we got reports)
8. Most hotels have evacuated to upper floors to escape flooding problems
and reports are that all people are safe and many hotels have power from
gensets
9. Communications are messy- vey difficult to get to cell phones and
landlines- No internet access is available at this time
10. French side reports some damage as well and flooding but so far also
bearing the brunt of the storm
11. Have heard that Oyster Pond area was relatively okay- no boat problems
there or anything
12. Have reports of serious flooding in the St.Peters, Saunders, LB Scott
Road and Colebay areas
13. So far it appears there was one casualty - a Public Works employee this
is still unconfirmed and was early on and due to landslide
14. One radio station was streaming local reports via http://www.korsou.com
but I dont know if that was still the case as it was being done on phoneline
and this may now be impossible
15. Some people in Beacon Hill reported that their roof was showing signs of
weakening so they have opened their entire home to let the wind blowe
through to save the roof - they are now bunkered down in concrete covered
garage area
16. Phone lines and service from MAHO area all the way through Simpsonbgay
(numbers with 5) is down - hard to reach them at all.
Colebay is still reachable as is ECC cell (but difficult). No one with a
telcel number that I tried could be reached - all I got was voicemails.
17. I got a report from someone working with a SPORTS BOOKIE place there
they were open and taking bets - I could not believe it. I will not make
comments on this because it infuriates me. They even had the nerve to ask me
when I was gonna turn up the internet again. How compasionate!
18. Most tourist who have family there - if they know the tel no. Try
calling - you may be lucky and get a call in and this will ease your mind -
I know talking to my wife and son (4 yrs) made me feel a hell of a lot
better - although I really feel like I should be there.
19. Anyone thinking of visiting- think again! We wont be ready for prime
time for a bit so it would be best not to overburdon the system which will
be in relief mode for a while
20. We have some pics of oyster pond - I will try to get this online somehow
and let you all know later- we are getting info

CIAO

Anguilla
Hi
Well we are still with you, thanks to the amazing effort by cable and
wireless many phone lines are still open.
Lenny is hitting with its full force right now about120mph we understand
that this is now the maximum sustained wind, it is difficult to see which
way the wind is blowing from it seems to come from all directions at the
same time but we are told that it will come more from the SW as the storm
slowly moves eastward throughout the night.
Thanks to 102.7fm SMX we have had plenty of news reports from St Maarten
unfortunately a lot of the news is bad news.
The wind is blasting our home and shrieking though the shutters, hopefully
we will see a reduction in the next few hours.
We still have internet contact with TWC but the imformation is only
guesswork.
Have to go now Mandy says its staring to look like hurricane luis and stuff
is starting to fly.

Roy
Flash the govt admin office in St Maarten has just lost its roof.

Just wanted to let you know that I just spoke with my husband in
Anguilla and got an update on conditions there.

He's staying in Mead's Bay and says they're weathering the storm OK. He
said it's REALLY intense. The rain and wind are so strong that they have
2 inches of rain in their 2nd story room. Water is just seeping into the
room through any itsy bitsy crack or cranny it can find. Miracle of
miracles, the phones were working - the electricity is not. And all the
matches are soaked, so they have no light. It sounds pretty gloomy.

When he called, he sounded like he was on a bad cel phone connection.
But he was on a regular phone. Apparently I sounded perfectly clear to
him. It was just the sound of the rain and wind outside making all the
noise.

The storm is right on top of them right now. It has been for a few
hours. He said that he thought that it might be stalled again - or maybe
it just seems that way.

But everyone is fine. Just tired of the storm, and ready for it to blow
out to sea again!

This is coming to your LIVE from the JOLLY ROGER in West End, Tortola.
RECUPERATION efforts are under way. First of all, Lou, the owner/manager
of Jolly Roger is running full tilt with generator and staff to feed and
drinks the masses. He has generously donated his generator so that I may
get out to you on my laptop! Twice I have ordered laptop batteries in the
past three months from US companies who cannot ship them to me via US
Priority mail to St John, USVI (which is then redelivered to me by
miraculous means.) How very weird! If I had that battery, I would have been
in touch with you all along.
The storm hit us all right and caused quite a few inconvenient
avalanches, but the road crews were out at the crack of dawn, clearing things
up. By noon, I was able to drive the road from Frenchman's Cay to Nanny Cay,
about eleven miles, give or take a few hitchhikers.
Lefty Lenny howled all night, giving us pause for the cause, but by day
break we were luckily (as usual) mostly unscathed. My boat is floating and
safe as are ALL the hundreds of boats in Nanny Cay marina and boat yard.
If you are planning a vacation down here, we should be ready to go by
Saturday!

FROM your Lucky Lefty Lenny Correspondent in Wet End, Tortola (excuse me!
WEST End Tortola!)
@aol.com">aSail4U@aol.com
Author of HURRICANES & HANGOVERS (and other tall tales and loose lies
from the coconut telegraph...)

Email relay from Tortola

I am wondering if anyone knows the damage that Lenny has had on Culebra?! I have friends there and have heard no news. crawford@clarksdale.com

Please anyone with news from St. Eustatias send it to me .My daugh.,son in law and grandson are there I havent heard from them since 9 last night please any news would be so good

To anyone on St. Croix:
Does anyone know the status of Nature Conservancy employees and property at the Little Princess? Also how are things at TNC at Jack and Isaac's Bay?

Does anyone know where the guests of Cap Juluca were sent? How to get in touch with anyone from Cap Juluca (management)? Anyone know anything about Cap Juluca? Concerened Parents of honeymooners.

Searching for info on my mother and father staying at Beachside Villas St. Maarten have tried and tried calling but cant get through..if anyone has any info on this or the condition of the area please email me at Rsquare@maxminn.com The name of the Couple is bruce and Judy Stevens. Thank you in advance please send asap...
Concerned son Scott

I am getting direct reports from Anguilla because the telephone services still works on most of the island.  Residents in the Sandy Ground area are calling for evacuation.  The waters and rain are causing major damage in this area.  The East End area (the corn) close to the clinic is completely flooding. Residents are taking boats to get to their families and evacuate them from that area.  The Cuisinart Resort was badly damaged due to storm surges.  It is reported that one or two of the buildings shifted due to the fact that it was built on or very close to the sand.  With this storm create significant storm surges, they couldn't help but have the end result.  The Rendevous Bay is also very damaged.  Cap Juluca is totally flooded and all of the beaches mentioned above have been destroyed.  It will take some time to restore these beautiful beaches.  I have not had any reports of structural damage as yet because my sources are unable to make a complete island tour.  They are now in the eye wall and it is relatively calm.  The residents are out and about at this time trying to secure other relatives that need to be evacuated.  This is being done mainly by boat.  Anguilla's reports of St. Martin is terrible.  They are reporting structural and cosmetic problems in St. Martin.  No word on St. Barths as yet.  Will post as I am contacted from Anguilla.  

I spoke to relatives in St. Barthelemy yesterday. They reported moderate winds and rain, they were very concerned about flooding because over the last couple of weeks they have had plenty of it. The grounds are already extremely saturated. The winds they are getting are steady and residents are waiting for them to stop when lenny finally moves away from the islands. They did not report damage at that time, leaves were still on trees, phones were working... But added that time would tell what havock Lenny could produce.

Still searching for information on Beachside Villas in St Maarten can anyone tell me the conditions in that area.I am unable to contact My mother and Father as of This Morning.Please post a message or Email me ASAP.Thank You.
Very Concerned son Scott..

Has anyone heard of any damage reports from Saba. My girlfriend is med student on the island and I have not been able to contact her since Wednesday. I am very concerned about mudslides because the landscape is very mountainous. Please e-mail me at mpettibone@amresco.com and @aol.com">map3858@aol.com.

I heard from my wife at 0910 [EST] from Oyster Bay Beach Resort [St. Maarten, Dutch side]. As there was a long line to use phone, I have little in way of details but infer that there have been no deaths or serious injuries, with primary storm damage problem being ground level flooding. Since Oyster Bay is rather isolated, I have no info on other places.