Dorian traps JCC president in ‘paradise’

NASSAU, BAHAMAS (WWNY) - You might think getting stuck at a popular vacation destination would be a dream come true.

Unless it's while a monster of a hurricane was battering your hotel.

"I always thought 'wow, it would be fun to be stuck in paradise,'" Dr. Ty Stone said by phone from the Bahamas Tuesday morning, "but I'm ready to come home."

The Jefferson Community College president traveled to the Bahamas with friends late last week, intending to come back Monday.

But Dorian arrived Sunday afternoon and has been virtually stalled over Freeport on Grand Bahama island since.

Stone and her friends are in the capital, Nassau, about 130 miles away, "but the storm is so huge and it's not moving very much at all, so that's why we're continuing to just see these sustained winds and periodic rain."

She said the wind and rain were so bad Monday night, she feared they would blow in her hotel room windows.

"It's been an experience, to say the least," she said.

While she and her friends have food and shelter, “I really, really feel bad for the people on Abaco Island and Freeport, because they have gotten hammered.”

Where she is, the storm has been "very, very light compared to what they've seen up there."

Stone said she's been waiting for a flight since Monday and every one she's booked has been canceled.

With the storm moving so slowly, she doubts a Tuesday flight is possible "and it's questionable even for tomorrow."

Stone said it’s likely she won’t be able to return to the north country until Thursday.

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