I was just looking at http://weather.unisys.com/satellite/sat_ir_enh_east_loop-12.html

Hurrican Lenny is on track for Bonaire. Is the island "outside the hurrican this time"?

I hope so.

JG

I've been tracking Lenny as well. The forecasts from the National Hurricane center predict Lenny will be taking a northeasterly course, however as you indicated, Lenny is resisting the forecast at present and getting closer to the ABCs (us being the 'B'). I've been using http://www.storm99.com for tracking. If anyone has anything more accurate, let us know. UPDATE: As I was posting this message, I got a notification telling me that Lenny was starting his more easterly, slightly northerly swing.

In terms of mood on the island, only a few people are nervous about Lenny, with the rest either not aware of him or confident that no hurricane will come near. In any case, though, large swells are expected to show up tomorrow - Hurricane or no hurricane.

We'll keep everyone posted.

Jake

Jake, here are some more weather links for you.
www.wundergound.com/tropical
www.intellicast.com/tropical
www.accuweather.com
www.nhc.noaa.gov
www.ncstormtrack.com
www.caribwx.com
Hope this helps. Sorry but I can't do hyperlinks yet. It doesn't look like Lenny is coming your way but anything is possible.

Corney

I find that a source of easily readable data is on http://www.weather.com/weather_center which is the Weather Channel website. Decent maps, frequent updates, strike probabilities, etc. As of today 11/15 at 17:28 EST the eye was moving eastward from a location 250 miles southeast of Jamaica, and expected to sweep up toward Haiti and the DR. The storm is described as compact, so the threat to Bonaire seems remote. Hope so!

My prayers are with all residents of Bonaire.

Does everyone realize how "rare" this Hurricane actually is? Lenny is only the third Hurricane since 1908 to be tracking on an Easterly direction. Don't quote me, but that was the little bit of trivia thrown in on the Weather Channel a little earlier this evening. (There have been tropical depressions and storms, but very few Easterly HURRICANES). The moment I heard its path, I knew he was a Lone Wolf type storm.

Another site to track his path and to view input from folks actually in the areas of the storms visit site "The Caribbean Hurricane Page" at: http://www2.gobeach.com/hurr.htm

Hoping the big wind does not blow on Bonaire and that the high surf does not damage any property or lives and that the rains do not oversoak the lands...........Carole

Just in case you do get a little rain from Lenny on Bonaire, please don't feel too bad.........there are snow flurries in the forecast up here in the New York Metropolitan area...........trade you the rain for the cold and snow any day! Carole

Well, it appears Lenny will be passing us by, but not without his fringes hitting us with quite a bit of surge - we actually have waves on the normally quiet west side, 1 to 2 feet above normal water levels - wind, and some rain. Inclement weather will probably last a couple of days...

Jake

PS And yes, I prefer the fringes of a Hurricane to sleet and snow :-)

As I write this I'm being informed that Bonaire has been hit by storm surge that has caused considerable damage south of Belnam and to the Green Parrott. The townhouses at Lighthouse Beach Resort seem to have serious damage to the ocean front homes due to strong storm surge with the exact damage estimate still not known to us in the states. If anyone on Bonaire is close to Lighthouse Beach Resort a damage estimate would be nice to know. I have heard that all the ocean front townhouses are severely damaged. Any report would be welcome. Thanks

we are not able to access the damage first hand...Paulette is here and said as of 4pm today your unit was fine.

We just e-mailed the following as a Bonaire E-Newsflash:

Lenny Brushes Bonaire

While Bonaire has long been considered outside the so-called "Hurricane Belt", Bonaire is still prone to odd weather, and the brush we are presently having with the fringes of Hurricane Lenny certainly qualifies as odd weather, to say the least. According to the Weather Channel there have only been three hurricanes ever in the Caribbean with an easterly trajectory, and Lenny is one of those.

While the closest Lenny got to Bonaire was about 150 miles, it was enough for Bonaire to feel his impact. In fact, it could be said that Bonaire received advanced notice of Lenny's arrival, in the form of major wave action on the normally calm western side of the island. The wave action started in the morning hours just after dawn, and continued increasing in intensity the rest of the day, with large waves still pounding the coast even now (at 8pm AST). We personally witnessed waves in excess of 10 feet, and had reports of even larger ones. An interesting observation is that the waves only formed when shallow water was reached, which means that the waves were likely caused by deeper water movements forced upward when they hit the sloping contours of Bonaire's aquatic topography (i.e. the reef).

The most heavily affected sections of the island were and are Belnem (the southernmost inhabited coastal region) and Hato (the area where many of the resorts are and a number of private residences, including ours). Oddly enough, nary a drop of rain has fallen on the island, and winds, while coming from the "wrong" direction (anything but from the east), have only been moderately strong. In fact, we had sunny skies for most of the day, and people who lived and worked inland had no idea that there even was serious wave action.

As such, all damage from the storm is isolated to only waterfront properties. Here in the Hato area for example, all the beaches that were part of private homes are now covered in 2-3 feet of limestone rubble (limestone is what coral turns into), and no sea-level structures have been left untouched. Many homes with sea level apartments or rooms have suffered at least minor flooding. Virtually all the piers in the Hato area have suffered significant damage, including those at all dive operations, with at best the wooden planking ripped off, and at worst the whole piers ripped apart. However, until the waves subside (expected to happen by morning as Lenny continues to move northeast), it's difficult to judge how extensive the damage is, and how long it will take to repair. It's expected that BONHATA and or CURO will release an official statement tomorrow (which we will broadcast) on this matter.

With the exception of a dive boat owned by Black Durgon, and which was out of use for a while and is now a lawn ornament in someone's aquatic backyard, no dive operation dive boats were lost to the waves, with all dive operators having secured their vessels in the Harbour Village Marina. The Marina, while suffering from some surge, has so far proven to be a good shelter for many of the island's vessels. However, higher water levels and mild surge have caused some water and debris to wash across the road in front of the marina into the salina on the other side, and tonight the road is closed to all but local traffic.

The Playa area of Bonaire has suffered very little damage up til now (at 4pm Karel's beach bar was missing a number of planks, and passers by were getting wet from the sea spray hitting the new seawall). However, as part of his concern for the safety of people on the island, Lt. Governor Richard Hart issued orders that the piers of Bonaire be closed to all persons, just to avoid potential problems with surge.

The worst water damage caused by the waves is in the Belnem area, where we witnessed spray in excess of 50 feet high resulting from waves crashing into the shore. In fact, this spray repeatedly was carried over the roofs of homes, onto E.E.G. Boulevard. At present, Lt. Gov. Hart has ordered the mandatory evacuation of all oceanfront homes in Belnem, with those not having another place to go being welcome at the Red Cross shelter near the airport. (He has also asked for voluntary evacuation in Hato, with people urged to go to the Papa Cornes school in north Antriol).

In Belnem, we helped evacuate some friends from the Lighthouse Beach Resort, where water levels in the courtyard/parking area had already reached (this is a low point of the property, we should note) almost two feet (60 cm), and noticed water coming out from under the door of one oceanfront unit. In the adjacent Punt Vierkant area, the most water damage appeared to be taking place, with water from waves pouring through several homes. Further north in Belnem such sights were not seen, although we have been told that the ocean side of most homes have been receiving a serious battering, as well as lots of salt water spray.

South of Belnem, where many of Bonaire's popular shore dive sites reside, was an amazing scene. Those familiar with the area know that there is a stretch of bare land, more or less at sea level, with a small rise at the water's edge there. Today that whole area was filled with water. "The Lake", one popular location, in fact looked like a lake today. And south of the Angel City dive site, the wave action caused rubble to wash over the road to the point that it was not passable.

We've received a large number of inquiries about specific people and places, and while we can't address every one of them at this time, please be advised that as of yet, no there have been no reports of any casualties or serious injuries (although there have been some scrapes resulting from waterborne debris - and there is an amazing amount of such debris at present, due to the wave damage to the waterfront).

One question we've received from several of our readers pertains to what the impact is of these waves on the reefs of Bonaire? The answer at present is that we don't know yet. Certainly there's a lot of sediment that has washed out over the shallow areas, and in Hato, we've seen quite a bit of damage to the really shallow corals (i.e. 10 ft./3 meter deep water), such as elkhorn coral stands which have become part of the rubble on our beach. But, until such time as the surge subsides back to normal levels, we won't be able to gauge what damage there is. We will state that nature has a way of taking care of itself, and this is hardly the first time that Bonaire's west coast has been battered by a large wave system - that's something that has happened several times this century, and had undoubtedly happened countless times before. The only difference is that there are more oceanfront properties here than before, meaning that more people are affected by the latest wave damage.

We'll have more information (and pictures) on this nasty wave system and its aftermath in the next day or so. In the meanwhile, take heart that the latest satellite maps indicate that Lenny's fringe seems to be continuing to move up and away from Bonaire. For those with plans to come and visit Bonaire in the next few days, there should be no problems if you're staying at an in-land property, and you should be okay if you're staying at a large resort. We'll be soliciting statements from BONHATA and CURO, as well as individual properties, and will send them out in our next Bonaire E-Newsflash. (For family coming to visit us - everything's okay here so far, but our beach isn't quite what it used to be :-) ).

In terms of what this does to the anticipated visit by Holland's Queen Beatrix to Bonaire tomorrow, it's not clear. We'll keep you posted.

Hello Michael and Paulette..We heard that LBR was evacuated and a sea surge covered the area and caused considerable damage. The news we have is not good for the ocean front owners at LBR. Any new updates would be appreciated. It's good to hear that Paulette is safe. Do you know if the owners of #10 are on island? We've been trying to contact them. It's a bummer being so far away but still getting pieces of info. Thanks for any bits of info..Tony

Hi Tony,

I'm not sure if the owners of LBR #10 are on-island or not (in fact, I'm not even sure who the owners are - if you know, tell me and I can try and track them down). However, at about 4:30-5:00pm, #10 had water flowing out from under the front door (the side that faces away from the ocean) at a very noticable rate. Not a good sign. I didn't notice any other oceanfront units with the same waterfall effect, but then again #10 was right across the way from the people I was helping move some stuff (Gwen & Marlon & Kai), so it was more noticable.

Now, at 10:30pm, at least in Hato, it looks like the wave system has stabilized (still some big waves, but they don't appear to be as violent as previously). See http://maps.weather.com/images/sat/caribsat_440x297.jpg for the latest CaribSat map - the 9:17EST map shows Bonaire pretty much in the clear of the nasty stuff...

We'll see what the night brings...

Jake

Hi Jake..David and Cindy Callahan are the owners of #10 at LBR and We own #9. We heard that the surge was so strong that it broke out the back glass doors of the ocean front townhouses at LBR causing water to flow through the houses out through the front doors. Our info is that there is not much left of the first floors of our houses there. Thanks for the update..Any other info is appreciated.

Jake,

Hi to you and Linda and all...we were in Bonaire when Gilbert "hit" - is this situation similar? Hope all is well with you all and Michael and his pups........

Having seen some of the aforementioned snowflakes already, I would also trade wind and waves for what is going to "hit" the northeast this winter...Betsy

Tony,

I don't know David & Cindy - perhaps Michael does? Based on the similar construction of the various units, however, I'd guess that if #10 has a problem, #9 is not far off. Sorry. Hopefully by tomorrow whomever you have to manage your property will be able to go take a look at it (once the police determine it's safe to go there - it was blocked off tonight.)

Betsy - I wasn't here when Gilbert was around, so I can't say how it all compares, although people I've spoken to here say they've never seen anything like this before on Bonaire... Say hi to the family!

Jake

Paulette and I are on our way to check out the damage. will let you know...

Thanks for being so brave..we await your report.

Regards to all.
Glad to hear no one was seriously hurt.

If someone out there knows the email address or fax number of Ennia Insurance on Bonaire would you be so kind as to post it for me. It seems the damage to our house is substantial. Email is preferable. Thanks

Sorry to hear about your house.

Here is the information:
Ennia Caribe Verzekeringen
Kaya Carlos A. Nicolaas 5
Phone: 8546, and 2420
Fax: 7546
e-mail: ennia@bonairelive.com

Thank you Linda.

Hi Everyone,
I just joined this user group and am in New Jersey. I have heard from a number of people in Bonaire and report the following
My wife Nancy and I live at Witte Pan, where the white slave huts are. I understand that Kitty who lives there full time is safe as are the animals. The houses are standing but waves pounded us. Our cistern is probably polluted with salt and needs to be drained.
The property survived in part to a sea wall we were able to build after years of approval process. Four of the slave huts lost the walls facing the sea. The Salt Co has done a superb job clearing the roads and now is dealing with lots of damage.
We saw the devastation from Gilbert and this sounds far worse. The Queen is visiting Bonaire today, maybe she will expedite any help.
Best of luck to all.

Hallo everybody

I would like to know how bad the island was hit by Lenny, is ther e as much damage as on curacoa?
All the reports i read here are from before isn't it?
I hope all is well and there is not to much damage.
Did capt. Don servive?

Has anyone seen how Richard's waterfront made out?

I haven't heard anything specifically about Richard's but Bruce Bowker of Carib Inn told us that he suffered little more than a few planks missing from Carib Inn's pier. He even led some East Coast dives yesterday! (we're jealous!)

Linda

He did the same after Hurricane Gilbert a few years ago. It was one of the most memorable dives we ever been on.

Oh sure. Rub it in...

Jake

Hello,

I'm new on the news group because I was checking the net for information about Lenny, and I ended uphere, I hope everybody is alright and has not to much damage.

Everything should be operatonal by the weekend with a few places taking a few more days to replace some damageed areas. All the dive shops are operating as of Tomarrow. I knew things were almost normal at 7 pm when my cable TV came back and I was able to watch CNN once again....next best thing to the New York Times.

Has anyone gotten a report on how the reef fared? We will be there in 39 days and am looking forward to diving your beautiful reefs again. See you all soon

Chuck

according to the Bonaire Marine Park, Divers will not be able to see any difference in the reefs. I will take a snorkel later today and check it out for myself.

Dean Palm sent me photos of Boca Slagbaii.

They almost made me cry.

If restoration efforts are planned, I'd like to contribute.

I've done one dive and one snorkel in the last day. The dive was done a couple hundred yards south of Something Special, and while the suspended sand in the water made the visibility rather poor - about 30' at best, the reef was just about unaffected by the storm. Of course, this area was not that hard hit by the waves. I suspect that the southern dive sites (i.e. those below Salt Pier), which have long sandy shallow section will be much the same, and the water should clear up as soon as the wind returns back to coming from the east (it's still blowing at a normal rate, but from anywhere but east).

I took a snorkel today behind my house, near the Small Wall dive site, where there is still a large amount of surge (lost my snorkel going in, got banged up getting out). There the scene is not so pretty. Much as expected, the whole shallow water area (down to about 20-30') has been flattened. Only small, close to the benthos (ground), coral heads seem to have survived in the shallows. The branching corals (staghorn/elkhorn) are gone, but as they grow pretty quick. All others have been tumbled by the rough seas. The top of the reef slope is also banged up, but below that (as indicated by the BMP) the reef appears fine.

I understand however, that East Coast diving has never been better. I heard several dive operations have been sending them over in droves.

I'll be doing some more dives all next week, and will post updates here.

Jake

I would like to thank everybody who took time for telling us outsiders about the state of the island and reef after Lenny hit.I am depending on your information keep it up.

OK, Jake,

Who was it that said, "Oh sure. Rub it in..."?

Any news about the HilmaHooker? since the southern part of the island was affected the most, unless I have missed it, I haven't seen any postings about the old girl and how she survived Lenny...leaves room for lots of jokes, doesn't it?

Well, folks, in 18 hours we'll be on the flight to Bonaire for the T'giving weekend. So sorry to hear about the damage, I lived here (Miami) through Andrew, so I can sympathize. We're staying at Buddy Dive, should we bring anything special? A New York Times (or just a book of Sunday Crosswords?) Any recent dive reports? Folks still diving the east side? Viz?

Thanks, see you soon ...
Clay & Laurie

My wife and I were in Bonaire during the arrival of the storm surge. We left on Friday with the waves on the west side still pretty high. The dive master at Capt. Don's said they were afraid that the shallow reefs - anything above the 40 to 50 foot mark would be lost. We are snorkellers not divers and our great joy in Bonaire was the accessability of the reefs. Everyone seems to be concerned about the deeper reefs and just saying oh well that's life about the shallower areas. Has anyone heard how the shallow ares such as Windsock survived or even the west side of Klein Bonaire. We were hoping to go back next year, but not if the shallows have beenwiped clean.

Thanksgiving Greeting to All who live in Bonaire from those of us who wished they did .(like us)
Hope your "company"arrived for your holday.
Regards,
Jim & Lorraine

We did a boat dive at Rock Pile yesterday, and except for some turbidity in the shallows, they appeared untouched! I'm sure other places probably may not have faired as well, but Bonaire will still have areas of wonderful shallows!

Let's see... To answer a few questions:

1) Family arrived. We are now considering ourselves invaded :-)

2) Other dives. Did Cai (east side) a couple of days ago, and everything is healthy, but there was a serious current in the channel (so what else is new), and quite a bit of turbidity (due to said current). As Susan indicated, the sites on the east of end Klein are pretty much untouched, and we heard good reports of visibility and reef health below 20' from shore divers at Red Slave yesterday. Also, dive boats were out en masse on the northern dive sites, from La Dania south, but I haven't heard any reports about what was under the surface (although I did see smiling divers coming aboard as I passed by). Perhaps Susan or another dive operator can comment?

Jake

We had a boat on the west side of Klein Bonaire yesterday, which was one of the windward sides during the wave action. Our divers reported that yes, some damage ws incurred in the shallows, but the deeper reefs (30' and below) were in very good condition. Many of the moorings on this side of Klein are in the 25' range, and most divers (as has been my experience) normally dive deeper than the boat and come back at the mooring level. Keeping this "habit" in mind, many of our divers reported a great dive regardless of some damage in the extreme shallows. They also stated that it was an excellent opportunity to see first-hand what Mother Nature can do.......and it certainly isn't the first time this has happened in Bonaire's history, and the reefs have always recovered. Hope this helps.

Hi, I'm new here. I'm coming next sunday to Bonaire to Sorobon Beach Resort. Can anyone tell me what is the situation there? I heard some bad news aboud the beaches all over the island and something about an uggly smell.
Please react!
Best wishes to you all.
Han

The east side of the island, where Sorobon is, was unaffected by the wave system.

Jake

Any more news on reef damage on the West side and damage to resorts. I am considering a trip in late Jan. or early Feb. We really enjoyed snorkeling off Capt. Don's last year and wondering about the effects in that area. Thanks.

Lynn

We just got back from a week in Bonaire. (Nov 20 - 27). There was still enougn surge on Sunday and Monday to make shore entries difficult. By Wednesday, the weather and surge had returned to normal Bonaire conditions. The sites on the east side of Klein Bonaire and those north of town were in very good condition. Some sites (e.g., 18th palm) had considerable damage above the 20 foot level and some damage down to 30 feet. Below 30 feet there was very little damage. Helma Hooker did not appear to have suffered any ill effects from the storm.

We just got back from ten days in Bonaire - nov 19 thru dec 1. don't underestimate the effect of the waves on the west side if you are soon to travel to Bonaire. We were lucky enough to be able to dive 30 dives, mostly east, and north. The southern sites (west coast) that we dove were greatly affected - the reef is covered with sand, and the corals that are there are in trouble due to sediment,or in some cases, such as Invisibles, well, are invisible compared to our other 6 trips to those sites. The good news was that east and lighthouse were fantastic, but these sites are not always accessible due to current and surface activity. Our assessment is that at Southwestern sites the damage is far beyond the 30 ft level, and will become more extensive as some of the coral suffocates from the sand placed on it by the waves.

I agree with hankperry. We just got back from a ten day trip beginning a few days before - nov 16 - the day after the "carnage". In addition to hankperry's comments, it's important to know that the north side of klein bonaire apparently got "hammered". We didn't dive there but heard through our dive operator that marine park rangers were radioing in in tears and that it looks like a bomb went off. Northern sites (Karpata, 1000 steps, ol blue, etc) appear to be unaffected.

south side of klein bonaire did appear to have some damage - I noted some broken sponges and corals and some sedimentation. I don't know how significant an impact the sediment I saw will have long term.

The dive shop and restaurant at Sand Dollar were destroyed but the owner is doing a fantastic job of keeping tanks filled and boats running despite his losses.

you can argue all day long that this is a natural event. True. How long do reefs take to restore themselves? I don't know and would be very interested in hearing from any marine biologists who have assessed the damages.

I'll still go back to Bonaire even if the diving is not as fantastic everywhere as it was. There are still rare and extraordinary conditions to see and witnessing the hurricane damages first hand will give us added appreciation to the marine environment's resiliency. We also felt the utmost respect for the people of the island, and the dive operators (Sand Dollar in particular).

As an environmental scientist, I personally would love to hear from any fellow scientists researching the reef and its recovery - please email at jsks@frii.com

Thanks

Have you seen the site "www.mindspring.com/~charlieroberts/lenny.htm" with pictures of Bonaire after Lenny? While not documenting reef damage, it is heartbreaking! In one picture, one area by the Sand Dollar Dive Shop where I used to snorkel everymorning last August looks now a sand (rubble?) beach! My spirits sank really down, and I hope everybody finds the guts to fight back and get things back to normal - where possible.
I will, no doubt, be back in August - I trust Bonaire will have a lot to show even after Lenny, but I am very sad.
Meanwhile, we all would wellcome a realistic assesment of the "Snorkeler's Bonaire" from the experienced guys

I just took a look at the pic. on Charlies sight.
Brought tears to my eyes, breaks my heart to see it.
Mash Danki, Charlie and everyone else who contibuted.
I'm sure the people on Bonaire will fix things up again,they are strong determined bunch of people, but I know it won't be easy. The power of nature is a scary thing sometime. Good luck to all!

Antonio,

In terms of snorkeling, your mileage will definitely vary. Some of the old familiar snorkeling spots, like our backyard (Small Wall), have been flattened in the shallows - no standing elkhorn or staghorn left, but lots and lots of fishes have returned to the shallows now that the water has settled down, and I think the same (flattening, but with lots of fish) is pretty much true for everything between Bari and Andrea I & II. I should mention that my family, when down visiting us the week after the waves, had a great time snorkeling at Small Wall, watching fish and turtles.

But for those of us familiar with most every twist, turn, and branch it's a big change.

We've been told that from about Barcadera on up that the shallows are in reasonably good shape, but that Nukove is transformed (the Nukove beachlet is filled with rubble).

Southern parts of Klein are fine, but the shallows on the north took a beating, according to reports.

So, is there still good snorkeling on Bonaire? Definitely. Will long time Bonaire snorkelers notice a difference? Definitely.

Jake

I have just seen in Bonaire E-news that Gerri lost his Bakanal. I am very sorry for him. How about the other popular boats? The Baka di Laman, the Seawitch, the Samur, the Woodwind, etc.?

Antonio,

Both of Gerrie's boats used for ferrying people to and from Klein survived just fine, as did all the others you mention. The yacht Bakanal was the only real casuality, and it lost its mooring two days after the waves originally hit.

Jake

pink beach. we willbe in bonaire through christmas and new years. I am curious about the condition of pink beach after lenny. Has it sustained any significant damage? any report of erosion or rubble?

My wife and I just got back from Bonaire last week. Here are some things about the island. The Northern dive sites in Washington Park were hard hit. The sites around 1000 steps and Ol' Blue were protected by the island and not muck damage occurred at all. Pink Beach is pretty well gone. There is a lot of coral washed up on shore. There are still plenty of fish with more smaller fish than ever. Had a great couple of night dives. There were still tarpin, eels, octopus, lobsters, etc. The white slave huts that were damaged are currently being fixed. The various docks that were damaged hasn't slowed down the divers much. It doesn't look like the Green Parrott will be rebuilt. More restrauants open than in the past. Lions Dive Hotel was very accomidating and was one of the only places that actually improved their facility. We had an excellent stay.

The new March issue of "Dive Training" magazine has an excellent article by Dee Scarr, titled, "Resilient Nature," on the coral reef damage caused by hurricane Lenny. I checked the web site, www.divetrainingmag.com; but it has not yet been updated to contain the March issue.