What to do about October Aruba trip!?!?!
 

Help! I have been planning a surprise trip to Aruba for my husband and me for mid October. Final payment due to travel agent in 2 days. What should I know before giving this large chunk of $ over to the agent, in terms of hurricane weather, damage to the island? Must I have to suck it up and go even if the island is in a terrible state? Any info would be greatly appreciated!! I saw aerial photos of the flooding on aruba-bb.com and it certainly doesn't look like a vacation spot at the moment. Apparently Radisson only has "minimal water damage" but that is there own press release. If this is the end of the bad weather, do you think we are even safer 4 weeks from now?

Tough call - check out hurricane insurance for sure and the following link might help in your decision http://www.diarioaruba.com/diabierna/noticia/news1.html for photos of some of the damage. Also check stormcarib.com for further updates. As for the end of the bad weather - only mother nature knows. Good luck!

Aruba didn't get hit, the storm passed to the north. So they just got the fringes.

This was the first time since 1961 that a hurricane has come close. The island has only ever been hit 6 times in recorded history. Abacos in the Bahamas has been hit 77 times.

It was unusual that Frances got that close. Chances are very slm that another will hit anytime soon.

GO!!! I am sure you will ahve great weather. My brother is heading there this coming weekend for his honeymoon...

Thanks for the vote of confidence- so your brother is still planning his honeymoon? I'll keep my fingers crossed for him!
Just don't want to spend a rare chance to vacation at depressingly damaged location- or worse, during the "only bad weather" in hundreds of years! :)

Aruba does not usually get much hurricane weather. I would call the hotel directly and ask them any questions you may have.

The information above is not really correct.
Aruba was last affected by a hurricane (Lenny) in 1999. Remember that hurricanes and tropical storms mean different things to locals vs. vacationers. For >90% of vacationers to Aruba, sun and pleasant weather are priority reasons for choosing to spend the money to visit. Even bad tropical storms can virtually ruin vacations.

That said, the actual odds of a hurricane or bad storm hitting Aruba in any one week period are quite small. An October trip is very likely to be just fine.
But there are NO islands immune to hurricanes in the Caribbean. People at this forum often recommend Grenada as a hurricane-proof island. It was devastated last week.

Actually, if you look at the below link, you'll see that hurricane Lenny (aka Lefthanded Lenny) did not affect Aruba, but rather affected the Greater Antilles, along with the northern Lesser Antilles.

http://www.srh.noaa.gov/sju/lenny.html

Aruba did suffer some flooding with the close passage of recent Hurricane Ivan, but things are getting back to normal rather quickly.

I agree that Aruba is technically out of the "hurricane belt," but "never say never" in the islands. Anything is possible when it comes to tropical storms and hurricanes.

I think the island will be fine for your trip in October, but you could always keep tabs on the discussions at stormcarib.com for further local info.

Thanks all, for your input. I am aware that no location is immune, thanks to posters on this website, and with following up on weather websites not sponsored by tourism interests. I am (overly?) confident we won't actually be HIT with a hurricane, I am more worried that the island won't be cleaned up by then from the current flooding. I know, selfish, since its only my vacation and people actually LIVE there, its just this trip was planned so long ago....

That was part of my point, Statia. Even though Lenny's winds didn't tear up lots of buildings on the island, many beaches were severely affected and the weather was terrible...totally wasted vacation for anyone who would have been there or soon after the storm.
Hurricanes 'brushing' islands can ruin vacations. But residents won't be affected in the same way.

My husband and I will be in Aruba October 14 for the weekend. We're staying at the Marriott. Any more info would be appreciated!

Now I see what you mean, Ted. I thought you were implying that Aruba took a direct hit with Lenny, and we actually were hit direct here on Statia, so I knew that couldn't have been the case.

Yes, you are right that even somewhat close passing storms can severely affect the seas and beach of any given island. We have recently had that problem with Frances, Ivan and now Jeanne. It can be a perfectly sunny, beautiful day where you are at, but you can forget going in the ocean and may very well deal with beach erosion even after the seas have calmed.

Thanks for the clarification on your previous post, Ted.

We just got back on Saturday. There was really only flooding. We stayed at the Wyndham and walked down the beach to the other hotels. All the piers are still there. The hotels only had minor wind/water damage. The flooding was worse with the government issuing a state of emergency on Friday, 9/10.

BTW, Ted Turner is correct. Locals were telling us that the last storm (Lenny) brought the same thing...flooding and minor damage. Aruba is NOT immune from Hurricanes and their damage.

Don't worry a bit. We just got back from Aruba 9/10. It only rained twice- 9/8 early morning & was sunny by noon & 9/10 from midnight to 8 AMish. The rest of the time it was sunny & beautiful. Some residential areas were affected by the flooding. As tourists, we really weren't affected. We LOVED Aruba & want to go back next year! We stayed at Bucuti. Ivan made the waves choppier for 9/8 & 9/9 but it should be pretty normal by now.