An Update on Bocas del Toro and Flooding
By DON WINNER for Panama-Guide.com - Forrest Walker lives on Isla Carenero in Bocas del Toro. He said that during the past few days the storm off the coast caused heavy waves and higher tides than anyone can remember. "Even some of the old timers who have lived here for seventy years can never remember the tides having been this high," he said. "There was actually a guy rowing a cayuco down the middle of the island, more than 100 feet off the beach." The high tide combined with the storm surge destroyed a lot of docks, and those that were not destroyed were under water. On Bastimentos Island surging waves and high tides destroyed a restaurant called the Red Rooster. According to Forrest, "it's gone." (more)
Damage on Isla Colon: Forrest added another restaurant on Isla Colon called the "Ultimo Refugio" was also reportedly destroyed, although he could not personally confirm those reports.
Isla Carenero Under Water: At two or three points over the weekend the entire island was under water - there was no dry land anywhere and the water was "high enough to come up to the middle of a normal man's thighs." The flooding on the islands was caused by the storm surge combined with much higher than normal tide levels. "Our house sits on stilts out over the water, and on several occasions the water was blasting up through the cracks in the floorboards - another inch or two higher and we would have had water in our living room." Thankfully, it got very high but not high enough to actually get into their house.
Electrical Power Restored: Today basic services started coming back on. The power has been restored, but the question is for how long. There is an electrical power generating plant that runs on diesel fuel, and all fuel supplies normally come in via fuel trucks from David and then are shipped over to the islands via ferry. So, the generators are running on the fuel that's in the tanks right now but the road to David is closed and it might remain closed for months. All heavy supplies - food, water, fuel - comes in via ground transportation and that access has been cut off. So, the power is on right now but the question of how long the fuel will last remains unanswered. There is another plant supplying power to Bastimentos, but in reality every generator large or small is basically worthless if there's no fuel to run them.
Communications Restored: They were without any form of communication for three days. Today cellular telephones came back on, and of course anyone with any kind of satellite service had access. All land lines were down, cell phones were out, as well as Internet. There was regular broadcast television service which they used to keep up with the news and weather reports. Cellular telephone service was restored today.
Gas For The Boats: In Bocas everything runs on small little boats with outboard motors. Gasoline comes in the same way as the diesel fuel, and so far the little gas station that normally sells gas to the boat drivers has been closed. Forrest didn't know if he was closed due to lack of fuel or because of some kind of damage to his facilities - but in any case the guy is not selling gas. Normally gasoline comes in via a giant cayuco carrying dozens of 5 gallon gas cans, and so far that has not happened, either. There's one other gas station on Isla Colon and Forrest didn't know if they were open or not.
Spotty Air Service: There were no flights into or out of the Bocas del Toro airport on Isla Colon for three days. One person who had a reservation with plans to return to the United States for Thanksgiving had her reservation canceled because the airline companies were giving preference to the people who had been waiting at the airport for three days waiting to catch a flight out. The runway was flooded due to the storm surge and high tides, and bad weather also prevented flight activity. Today flights have been restored and they are catching up with the backlog. And again, aviation fuel is a major concern.
Gringos Stocking Up: There were long lines in the grocery stores today, and the word is out among the English speaking expatriate community. People are buying canned food, dry foods, and bottled water, much more than they would normally need. All heavy supplies including food, fuel, and water normally come in via ground transport, and that's no longer possible at the moment. So, stocking up on the essentials is a very prudent idea. Forrest reports that the shelves are still well stocked, but that he doesn't know how long that will last.
No Beer Coming In: What? Stop the presses! No beer in Bocas? Forrest says the "beer ferry" normally comes in regularly about every two or three days, and that also has not been happening. I mean, if the power is off and the phones are out, at least you can sit around, drink a beer, and contemplate your belly button. But, no beer? Man, that's serious... Forrest said they have about a week's worth of bottled water (and he didn't sound all to happy about the possibility of actually having to drink the stuff.)
Evacuations Taking Place: There have been spot evacuations of people who were affected directly. For example there is an old folks home that was evacuated, but Forrest didn't know where those people were taken. He said there have been many helicopter flights to evacuate a community along the coast somewhere near Chiriqui Grande, and again he didn't know the details. Forrest said this is "not a disaster of CNN proportions." He just recently returned from having worked as a Red Cross volunteer during two hurricanes that hit the Gulf Coast of the United States, and he said that by comparison this is nowhere near as big. He said "it's close to me, and it's personal, but it does not compare to the two hurricanes." He added that the real story is going to be how the government deals with coming up with a way to get heavy supplies into the Bocas del Toro province and out to the islands.
Pictures Coming: Forrest has taken a lot of photos of the damage caused by the storm and flooding which he will be sending to me, and they will be along shortly. If anyone else has anything like that, please fire away. Also, please give me a call at my office 399-4750 or cell 6614-0451 if you live in an area affected by the storms and flooding. Thank you very much.
Copyright 2008 by Don Winner for Panama-Guide.com. Go ahead and use whatever you like as long as you credit the source. Salud.
