BY OSWALD T. BROWN
WASHINGTON, D.C., September 2, 2019 — It was extremely painful watching the news on CNN about the devastation and destruction that Hurricane Dorian has wrought in the Northern Bahamas, particularly Grand Bahama and Abaco. I lived in Freeport for 12 years prior to returning to Washington, D.C. in 2013 as the Press, Cultural Affairs and Information Manager at The Bahamas Embassy and I am very familiar with Abaco because when I was Editor of the Freeport News, we published an Abaco edition of the Freeport News that required me to visit Abaco at least twice a week.
What made watching this morning’s CNN news even more painful was that I “suffered” through the devastation caused by two back-to-back hurricanes – Jeanne and Frances – that took their time “passing over” Grand Bahama in 2004. I had just been released from the Rand Memorial Hospital after undergoing minor surgery and was living in the Jansel Court apartment complex when Jeanne released her fury over Freeport, blowing off the roofs of several apartments in the sector of the complex where I lived.
To make matters worse, I was home alone because my ex-wife, Dr. Jean Turnquest, was required – as were all doctors working at the Rand – to move into accommodations at the hospital during the hurricane. I well remember taking refuge in the bathtub, as advised by something I read about hurricanes, and “hunkering down” in the bathtub for several hours while enduring residual pain from my recent operation.
Jeanne was a Category 3 hurricane “with winds sustained at 115 mph” and I thought its impact was unbelievable, so I can imagine what a Category 5 hurricane packing winds of 185 mph must have been like when Dorian demolished areas of Abaco and moved on to Grand Bahama for an “extended visit,” which was still taking place when I began to write this Monday morning.
The dire reports on CNN literally brought tears to my eyes when it was announced that Dorian was practically stalled over Grand Bahama, moving at a pace of one mile per hour. This brought back chilling memories of the destruction caused by Jeanne in 2004 throughout Grand Bahama. The vicious hurricane’s impact was particularly ferocious in the historic settlement of West End, where many homes were totally destroyed.
Among the homes destroyed by Hurricane Jeanne was the home of the late legendary fisherman Israel Rolle, who became famous by taking celebrities – including the late former U.S. President Richard Nixon, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ernest Hemmingway, Prince Rainier of Monaco, actor Robert Taylor and actress Lana Turner — on bonefishing trips. He was better known as Bonefish Foley, so much so that Bahamian entertainer Phil Stubbs recorded a song about him entitled “Bonefish Folley” that was a huge hit in The Bahamas years ago.
One of the celebrities that Bonefish Folley took fishing was the father of John D. Rood, the U.S. Ambassador to The Bahamas from September 2004 to April 2007. Although he officially became Ambassador to The Bahamas several months after Jeanne and Frances devastated Grand Bahama, during a visit to the island, Ambassador Rood found out that one of the homes destroyed in West End by Hurricane Jeanne was owned by the bonefishing guide who has taken him and his father on bonefishing trips when they had visited West End while he was a boy.
After meeting and renewing acquaintance with his bonefishing guide from years early, Ambassador Rood did something that has remained indelibly imprinted in my mind as a supreme paragon of generosity – he offered to build Bonefish Folley a new home and kept his promise and did so.
Ambassador Rood was appointed by President George W. Bush and I had the opportunity to interact with him on a number of occasions as Editor of the Freeport News. I was a member of the Rotary Club of Lucaya when he addressed a joint meeting of the Rotary Clubs of Grand Bahama during his tenure, and I made it a point to let him know that I considered his gift of a home to Bonefish Folley a remarkable demonstration of generosity. Indeed, it was this unselfish charitable act and his overall diplomatic deportment during his tenure that underscored my opinion that he was one of best U.S. Ambassadors to represent his country in The Bahamas.
Actually, Ambassador Rood’s background as outlined in the press release on his appointment indicated that he was an exemplary choice by President Bush for that diplomatic post. He was the former Chairman of The Vestcor Companies, a Jacksonville, Florida, real estate development and management firm that he founded in 1983 as a brokerage for multifamily properties. Under his direction, the firm expanded to include real estate investments, development, construction, and property management services. Vestcor specialized in multifamily rental and condominium communities, as well as refurbishing historical sites.
“An avid fisherman and hunter, Ambassador Rood served as commissioner and chairman of Florida’s Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, a body charged with exercising regulatory oversight over the state’s freshwater, marine and wild animal life,” the release noted. “During his tenure, the Commission worked for the careful scientific management and conservation of Florida’s aquatic resources, particularly the endangered manatee.”
Obviously, Ambassador Rood’s commitment to The Bahamas did not end with his diplomatic service. According to a July 6, 2014, article in The Tribune, former Ambassador Rood “donated an undisclosed amount of money to the Urban Renewal Commission yesterday.”
“Before presenting his cheque to Cynthia “Mother” Pratt, the co-chair of Urban Renewal, he told the press and officials that the best days of his life were spent in the Bahamas and that returning here feels like he has come home,” The Tribune’s article noted.
According to The Tribune, “Mrs. Pratt thanked the ambassador for his contributions to The Bahamas, noting that he was especially instrumental in bringing about faith-based services to Her Majesty’s Prison when she served as National Security Minister from 2002 to 2007.”
Urban Renewal co-chair at the time, Algernon Allen, also thanked the ambassador for his contributions, adding that the United States is “the best international friend of The Bahamas.”
Clearly, in the aftermath of Dorian’s path of destruction across the Northern Bahamas, our beloved country urgently needs all the assistance we can get from our “best international friend.”
Just as I was wrapping up this article, Mrs. Joy Jibrilu, Director General of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, was interview by MSNBC by telephone and she very articulately confirmed the widespread destruction that Dorian has caused in Abaco and Grand Bahama. She also noted that the potable water supply “has been compromised” and that the United States has already dispatched a ship to assist. Offers of assistance have also come from fellow Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries.
