Whom Shall I Fear?: Pushing the Politics of Change by Ewart Frederick Brown

Author:Ewart Frederick Brown [Brown, Ewart Frederick]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780979008030
Barnesnoble:
Goodreads: 51156933
Publisher: Rivertowns Books
Published: 2020-02-04T00:00:00+00:00

13. Now or Never

IN EARLY SEPTEMBER 2003, BEFORE WANDA AND I LEFT for a brief vacation on Turks and Caicos, I announced that a joint Transport and Tourism delegation would begin meeting with airlines. We aimed to add two or three flights a year to Bermuda’s air service.

No sooner had Wanda and I reached Turks and Caicos than Hurricane Fabian hit Bermuda. Forecast to miss the Island by 200 miles, the storm struck from the south on September 5 with 120-mile-per-hour winds. Sadly, a water surge killed four Bermudians crossing the causeway connecting St. George’s and St. David’s with the main island. Property and environmental damage included downed power lines and trees and torn-off roofs. Fabian was Bermuda’s biggest hurricane since 1963 and the first to cause loss of life since 1926.

The Island came together in the wake of the storm. Radio broadcasts of names of the elderly and others most in need brought groups of volunteers to their assistance. Hotels sheltered those whose homes were wrecked. As Chief of the Bermuda Fire Service, my brother Vincent Hollinsid played a leading role in storm response. And my brother Philip Butterfield, COO of the Bank of Bermuda, and other banking leaders arranged emergency loans and deferred credit card payments for three months without interest.

Closed for three days, the causeway was not fully repaired until November. During that time, the fast ferries helped get Bermuda functioning again, which ended most of the UBP’s claims that we did not need such advanced seaworthy vessels. The airport was ready to open as soon as the causeway could be used, thanks to the great work of general manager Jim Howes and the entire staff. Until Wanda and I could return, I kept in touch with the situation by phone and email.

Wanda and I repeatedly checked online for information. At one point Wanda said, “This must be horrible.” She was reading a woman’s report that her house was okay, but a lower-lying house across the street had waves crashing over it.

I looked at the story and said, “Honey, the lady is talking about your house.”

“What?!”

Still new to Bermuda, Wanda didn’t yet know all our neighbors’ names. We arrived home to find that sea water had swept through Gombey House, covering the ground floor with mud and dead fish. We had to replace many things, including doors and windows, and couldn’t live in the house for two weeks.

We were lucky the house kept its structural integrity. Our losses were small compared to the families of the four Bermudians who lost their lives and others whose homes and property were destroyed.

Throughout the rest of 2003 and beyond, Jim Howes and I worked with the Transport and Tourism departments to gain more flights for Bermuda. We lost flights along the way, but kept making net gains. New origin-and-destination data showed that Bermuda’s air passengers were no longer overwhelmingly tourists, but one-third each tourists, foreign business travelers, and Bermudians.

October 2003 saw the launch of the TCD website. It was an immediate time-saver for Bermudians, and David Burt progressively added functionality.

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