The Not So Perfect Storm

by André Klein

On the afternoon of December 14th things were rather quiet at the Club. It was raining hard outside, but inside it was rather festive and pleasant with all the Christmas decorations up. C.C.I. staff were busy setting up the ballroom for a private event that evening and were anticipating a long night as they would have to clean up after the function and get set up for the Santa’s Brunch scheduled for the next day. At approximately 2:30 P.M. the tranquil atmosphere inside the clubhouse came to an abrupt end. The anemometer recorded a wind gust in excess of 70 m.p.h. Witnesses later stated that the wind was sustained and did not subside for minutes. The force of the wind over the flat upper roof must have created a vacuum that lifted the roof membrane and proceeded to tear it away. Approximately one third of the roof was torn off and would have ended up in the harbor had it not snagged on a couple of flagpoles.

With the roof gone, the rain came in and the ballroom floor quickly flooded. People frantically moved tables out of the way and began mopping up. Outside, quick thinking and action on the part of our staff prevented further damage. The loose section of roofing was laid back down and, with the help of C.C.I. employees, was ballasted with timbers that had been stored at the harbor shack. Vinyl sheeting was laid over the roof to try to slow the water down. The rains stopped at around 5:30 and did not start again until midmorning on Sunday. Amazingly enough, the function scheduled for the ballroom went off that evening without problems although the Santa’s Brunch was postponed for one week. Before the rain returned, our staff was able to get vinyl sheeting down on the ballroom floor and dam the edges so as to create ponds. The ponds had to be emptied every three or so hours to prevent them from overflowing while the rain lasted, which was through Tuesday. A number of our employees took turns coming in at all hours to stay ahead of the water.

While damage control was going on, plans for repair were already underway. Director Tony Cooney managed to find a roofer who was willing to come out on Sunday afternoon to ascertain what was needed. By the end of the week we had a new roof over the ballroom that was better than the original.

Although the clubhouse sustained quite a bit of water damage, the facility could easily have been unusable for many months had it not been for the efforts of the dedicated individuals who pitched in and helped. It is always difficult to thank people by name because of the risk of omitting someone. In this case however it is only proper that the membership be made aware of some of the key players. Thank you Marc Roeloffzen, Hans Anderson, Rulaman Reyes, and last but not least, our manager, Ingo Schreiber for your efforts on the Club’s behalf. Also, hats off to the C.C.I. employees who pitched in hauling timber, mopping, and doing whatever was necessary on that afternoon.

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