Hi Todd, I'm sorry that you had a 'unsatisfactory' experience however, hurricanes are extremely dangerous (flooding, flying debris, loss of roofs, and unfortunately, loss of life) and is especially dangerous for beach residents as the surf tends to far exceed its normal line. Perhaps, your landlord failed to fully explain why he was temporarily evicting you, but he was probably trying to save your life.
Most Bahamians cover ('board up') all entrances because it keeps the extreme winds associated with hurricanes (many over 100 mph) from entering the building and blowing out windows and extracting the roof (its a pressure thing). All Bahamians respect the power of a hurricane and move inland to family members and hurricane-certified government/private buildings. No Bahamian would ever stay on the beach or venture outside during a hurricane until it has fully passed which accounts for the extremely low loss of life we have encountered during these annual storms. Yes, hurricanes in The Bahamas are an annual occurrence akin to monsoons in Asia - its something you learn as a child to navigate. Bahamians take it so seriously that, as I suspect occurred in your case, tourists & expats find themselves 'removed' from their beach-view homes. All modern homes and buildings must satisfy hurricane regulations and have hurricane insurance because the rebuilding process is expensive. Hotels are required to house and protect guests that visit during the season should a hurricane hit.
Bahamians are also very aware that tourists and expats are naive to the threat a hurricane possesses especially for two reasons: its is incredibly beautiful (almost like a siren, the winds sing) and when the hurricane eye (the center - or 'calm' as Bahamians call it) is upon you, unexperienced persons may be drawn outside. The 'calm' is the most dangerous part because it lulls the person experiencing it into a false sense of security. They think its ok, the storm is gone; however, the 'tail' is coming and the winds change direction and what has borne and is loosened (roofs, walls, trees, signs, lampposts, etc) by the 'head' often comes loose now.
My advice, thank your neighbor for the 'eviction' and write an informative blog post about your experience.
