By Phedre Dumouriez
((The following is a special bulletin put out by the AP Times, considering that their office was hit hard by the storm, (among other things) and printing presses are not all that easy to fix!))
Hurricane Hayden made landfall in Asphyxiation Point late Friday afternoon, becoming the third such storm to pummel the small island in as many years.
And pummel it did; the category 2 storm hit the beach around 2 o'clock on Saturday with winds reaching around 110 mph or even higher, according to the National Hurricane Center.
Projected storm surges of up to 12 to twenty feet high menaced a wide swath of the coast and massive flooding along the storm’s path knocked out power to the entire town. Evacuations had been called for the areas expected to be hit the hardest, including all of Lowertown, and residents across the rest of AP were informed to seek shelter, board up, and stay safe.
Ferry service was cut off as were all telecommunications for most of the event, and service remains spotty even now, days later.
The storm continued throughout most of the night, with flood waters reaching as high as second-story buildings, and emergency shelters became packed with evacuees - some of which were in need of serious medical attention.
The residents of AP were not the only victims of this hellish hurricane, as the lashing rain also caused major mudslides along parts of AP's Uptown residential neighborhoods. Retaining walls had given out along Indian Trail and 8th Street, sending thousands of tonnes of mud, rock and man-made structures into the sea. Those who had originally thought themselves safe and remained in their own homes had to be rescued from the rubble, though thankfully, there were no deaths reported.
At around 2 am, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed that Hurricane Hayden had finally started to dissipate. But when the sun finally came out after all that rain, the light also revealed the massive havoc that had been wreaked upon the land. Due to the location of The Point, no assistance was available from National Guard, so it was up to the residents themselves to clean up as they could.
The AP Times will continue reporting on this breaking story as the days following Hurricane Hayden go by. Please stay tuned for additional coverage, but in the meantime, we invite our readers to browse through the gallery of images that have been shared with us.
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