Club Med Turquoise

We were at Turkoise during hurricane Joaquin and we did experience some significant weather there. We saw wind of 30 - 35 mph sustained and gusts of up to 45 mph. There were quite a few water leaks (you had to be careful where you sat during meals or you would get wet), quite a bit of debris from the trees and a few small trees/shrubs knocked down, but nothing major. On the island there was some minor flooding but everything was cleaned up well and anyone arriving today would not guess anything unusual had happened. The beach was closed for 6 days and we finally were able to get out in a sailboat yesterday, before leaving today.

My flight on Sunday October 4 was cancelled but after many calls to US Air I arrived Monday. Weather has been perfect since.

Flight cancellations have been periodic due to runway damage resulting from the storm. I saw the damage and it makes at least 25% of the runway unusable. They are weight restricted in and out. Land was rough because they have to stick it. Some planes are forced to pull up and try again.

Be wary if you are coming to Turks anytime soon and check with your airline. Make sure they are using smaller equipment. Larger planes are not being filled to keep weight low, or not being allowed in.

Yes, when we left last Monday (10/5) I noticed about 2000 feet of the western end of the runway had been closed off. Minimum runway length is calculated in a very conservative manner (it assumes an engine fails at the worst possible time). So, although an airliner might be able to normally take off in 6000 feet, the required runway length would actually be more like 9000 feet. I suspect that most airliners up through a B-757 will be OK, but anything larger will probably be restricted until the runway is back to full length.