For the past 20 years, Grand Bahama has suffered economic shocks and nightmare conditions after being battered by intense hurricanes.

Their names are etched into the memories of the island's residents: Frances, Jeanne, Wilma, Matthew - and the biggest monster of them all - Dorian.

The storms have left hundreds of millions of dollars in damage, led to the closure of hotels and businesses, and repeatedly set the island's economy back.

In 2004, Grand Bahama was beset by the twin storms Frances and Jeanne.

Frances, which made landfall in early September of that year, did not leave much substantial damage on Grand Bahama and Abaco. However, the double blow of Jeanne - which passed over the same areas about three weeks later - meant many homes and structures that were weakened by Frances were left extensively damaged by the second storm.

Some neighborhoods on Grand Bahama were under six feet of water and roofs were torn off houses. Power lines were uprooted, shelters were compromised and Grand Bahama International Airport was left underwater.

The most devastating blow of all, however, came with the closure of the Royal Oasis property - formerly the Princess Towers - in 2004 following the two storms. More than 1,000 people lost their jobs as a result.

Many observers see these two storms as the catalyst for the economic decline that has plagued Grand Bahama ever since.

Zhivargo Laing, a former minister of state for finance and a Grand Bahama native, estimates that the Royal Oasis closure removed about $100 million from the island's economy.

"The Princess Tower had a wage bill ... in this economy, that may have been in the order of $30 million," Laing said.

"And as a multiplier, say a three-time multiplier, that's about $90 (million), almost $100 million. And that was extracted out of this economy and never came back. And that's a lot of people who were engaged in the tourism sector who could not find work again, save except for something else in the tourism sector has replaced it, and nothing ever did."

The 427-acre Royal Oasis property was bought by developer Harcourt for $33 million in 2007. Despite the purchase, the hotel is still shuttered and has been left to languish in disrepair for nearly two decades.

The hotel's closure had a knock-on effect, negatively impacting nearby places such as the International Bazaar and Grand Bahama's Straw Market where workers depend on tourism dollars for their survival.

A year after Frances and Jeanne, Hurricane Wilma descended upon Grand Bahama with 100 mile per hour (mph) winds and storm surge as high as 15 feet.

According to newspaper reports from the time, hundreds of homes in Pinder's Point, Hunters and Lewis Yard were left uninhabitable while about 80 homes were destroyed in Eight Mile Rock.

Samuel Cooper, then-chairman of the Red Cross on Grand Bahama, said in 2005: "The local communities in the western and southern districts of Grand Bahama have been devastated by Hurricane Wilma. People have not only lost their personal belongings, but their homes as well."

In October 2016, Hurricane Matthew barrelled through the country, wreaking havoc mainly on Grand Bahama, Andros and New Providence.

The storm's 140 mph winds flattened homes and destroyed roofs, deflating an economy for Grand Bahama that was still struggling to rebound from Frances and Jeanne.

"In West Grand Bahama, everyone got hit," Preston Cunningham, then-administrator for Freeport, told a reporter after Matthew.

"Some homes fell flat to the ground. In Port Lucaya, the marketplace roof peeled right off. It looks like an earthquake around here, almost."

The island's anchor resort, the Grand Lucayan, closed after the storm, due to extensive damage.

Smaller properties including Treasure Bay Casino, Pelican Bay Resort, Taino Beach Resort and Viva Wyndham Fortuna Beach Resort were also damaged.

The Grand Lucayan's closure had the most devastating effect, however, removing about 1,000 jobs and more than half of the island's hotel room inventory out of the market. The property featured three brands: Memories, the 500-room Breaker's Cay, and Lighthouse Pointe.

In November 2016, only the 196-room Lighthouse Pointe reopened. In August 2018, the Minnis administration purchased the resort for $65 million, with the intention of quickly selling off the property to a suitable investor.

However, the deal has floundered. In December 2021, the Davis administration canceled the sale to Royal Caribbean International and the ITM Group. A deal with a new buyer has not yet been finalized.

Enter Dorian

Hurricane Dorian hit The Bahamas on September 1, 2019. The Category 5 storm tore through Abaco first, nearly destroying everything in its wake, before making its way to Grand Bahama. Dorian hovered over the island for two days, making a slow exit as it lashed Grand Bahama with 180 mph winds.

The strongest hurricane to ever hit The Bahamas, Dorian caused an estimated $3.4 billion in damage, according to the Inter-American Development Bank.

It killed 74 people while more than 200 remain missing.

In the immediate aftermath, it looked like a bomb had gone off on Abaco and parts of Grand Bahama. About 50 percent of the businesses in Freeport had to close, many of which had no flood insurance.

Nearly four years later, the rebuilding process is ongoing.

According to Alex Storr, executive chairman of the Disaster Reconstruction Authority (DRA), about 1,100 homes on Grand Bahama still need repair.

Global and local supply chain issues along with funding constraints have hindered the process, Storr said, adding he was hopeful the process would be wrapped up by the end of the year.

After Dorian, the stark prediction from climate scientists and weather experts was that while this was a rare storm, the intensity and recurrence of forceful cyclones are expected to increase due to climate change.

There is worry from some environmentalists that not enough is being done to shore up the island from the likely threat of another monster hurricane.

Joseph Darville, chairman of environmental group Save the Bays, said if another Dorian hits Grand Bahama, it would be no better off than it was in 2019.

"It is an obligation on our part as citizens of this country to prepare for catastrophic eventualities," Darville said.

"When it comes to actually the protection of our people, our residents, during traumatic storms, etc., we have to be more aggressive in terms of the government's responsibility in making sure that particularly after the very serious storms that we've had over the last 10, 15 years, we have to be extremely vigilant with respect to how we're going to proceed for the future.

"In hindsight, I would say we did not do sufficient historically to prepare for such a phenomenal impact of such a storm, and so I think we can be forgiven for that but going ahead we cannot ever be forgiven. We have to prepare accordingly for what we have experienced so far," Darville said.

He has several recommendations: storm shelters at least 25 feet above sea level on each island; mandatory evacuations from vulnerable areas and an agreement with the major cruise lines to allow displaced residents to seek refuge on their boats before and after a disaster.

"On every single island, at least a 25-foot level of elevation, there should be fortified buildings constructed for the people to move in the event of a catastrophic Category 4, Category 5 hurricane," he said.

"Right now, if another Dorian would be sweeping over Grand Bahama, we would be in the same predicament because we do not have structures built to withstand Category 4, Category 5 hurricanes where people can be obliged to move for their own protection.

"We have an obligation to protect people who would not protect themselves," Darville said.

Other observers opine that due to the island's geographic position, there is little beyond the status quo that the central government can do to prepare for another cataclysmic event.

"Dorian was a monster, there's nothing you can do to prepare for a Dorian, but we try to make sure that what we do is up to standard at least for what is humanely conceivable with the next storm," Storr said.

He said repair work undertaken by the DRA ensures that structures can withstand over 200 mph winds, a stipulation from the Ministry of Works.

"We try to make sure that what we do is hurricane resistant," he said.

There are also promises from the government to build strong hurricane shelters throughout the country.

In the aftermath of Dorian, the Davis administration also promised a long-awaited overhaul of the country's building code, which has not been updated since 2003.

"We will see within the next year, a new building code for the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, which will incorporate the lessons we have learned from Hurricane Dorian," Minister of Works Alfred Sears said in February of this year.

Faith

The people of Grand Bahama might have been left battered, but they are not broken by Mother Nature's destructive force.

Pastor Simeon Outten, of New Life Worship Center, lost his home in Eight Mile Rock to Wilma.

"Wilma was very quick, but left major damage; that's when I literally lost my home in its entirety. I'm talking about the roof on the ground, the entire building was gone," Outten recalled.

He then moved to Freeport, into the community known as Over-the-Bridge.

"That's where Dorian came and [left] major damage," he said.

His home, like scores of others, was eviscerated. Thankfully, it has been rebuilt with the help of private citizens and other aid.

Through it all, Outten said he, like many other Grand Bahama natives, has kept the faith.

"From the spiritual [aspect], one thing I haven't lost is my faith. I've never been shaken by the loss of the material," he said.

"It has become, we have become so used to hurricanes, now we face it head on and start over. The majority of the citizens, residents here in Grand Bahama, are used to these kinds of freak storms."

Still, when the next major storm heads to Grand Bahama, Outten said he plans to evacuate.

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