Friday seems to be the preferred day for two of Bermuda's most devastating hurricanes as Fabian, like Emily 16 years prior, visited the Island on a Friday in September.

Those who experienced Emily in 1987 recall the devastation as early estimations put the damage at about $30 million. It was the hurricane that will long be remembered for the way it caught the Island off guard and for the destruction it left behind as it blew over the Island on September 25 of that year.

Seventeen homes were badly damaged at the former US Navy Air Station as the occupants were forced to seek shelter at the high school gym, while some 33 schools and nurseries were closed because of damage and various sports grounds and golf courses also felt the force of the high winds.

And while locals were warned and prepared for Fabian a week ago, the damage brought on by winds gusting as high as 160 mph puts that hurricane at the top of the destruction list.

Thousands of home remain without power while the damage to roofs are indicated by the blue tarpaulins that dot the landscape.

Significant damage was done to the Causeway in about four places, leaving St. George's and St. David's cut off from the rest of Bermuda for three days. Even now there is only one-way traffic across and after nightfall there is no vehicular access at all.

Bus service to St. George's hasn't yet resumed and as a result many St. Georgians have taken advantage of the free ferry service into Hamilton offered by Government.

"Although we had tornados in this one, clearly the damage from Emily was more tornado driven," believes Larry Osborne, Vice President, Property and Casualty at Argus Insurance.

"The major damage I am seeing here is storm surge damage, water damage, and I didn't see very much of that with Emily. A lot of the big claims we've had this time have been caused by the wave action and the surge and that is something very different."

As with Emily, Mr. Osborne experienced the full devastation of Fabian first-hand as the winds battered the Island, this time for a much longer period.

"With this one I was certainly aware it was a big storm, I knew it was coming and it felt like a much bigger storm," he said.

"I was surprised when I first came out of my house on Saturday morning to head to work. Obviously there was a lot of tree damage but what I needed to see, and I ended up seeing it later in the day, was the damage over at South Shore.

"We didn't lose any homes with Emily and we are probably going to lose a couple of homes this time. We didn't lose any businesses last time but we have a couple of businesses that may close up as a result of the damage they've had. So the severity is much greater in Emily."

The insurance companies have been flooded with claims as would be expected.

"We're probably going to have five to six times as many (claims) as Emily," Mr. Osborne estimates.

"Emily will be forgotten over the course of time and this one will be remembered. I'm hoping this is our one-in-100-year-claim. It's bad and losing life is what everybody has to focus on. We've lost people's lives and that's more important than any damage, really."

Sixteen years ago the boundary wall at St. George's Cricket Club was blown down by Emily and bleachers lifted onto the field. The wall was rebuilt and reinforced to stand similar winds, so this time Fabian demolished the northern wall near the clubhouse instead.

"As far as playing, I'm sure we can get the field up and running as soon as possible, but we won't be able to secure the area as far as admissions," said St. George's president Neil Paynter.

"It could have been much worst. We were fortunate that the club itself had no damage whatsoever, though the restaurant next to us suffered some damage."

The other Cup Match club, Somerset Cricket Club, also suffered wall damage ahead of this weekend's tour matches by the Barbados cricket team. However, that tour will go ahead.

Countless damage was done to boats around the Island, either lifted onto land by the wind and rising seas or sunk at their moorings.

The replica of the Deliverance which sits on Ordnance Island in St. George's suffered some damage as it did during Emily, but Graham Maddocks, who owns it along with Adventure Enterprises partner Nick Duffy, is relieved the damage was not worse considering the damage done to Ordnance Island itself."

We just built a new mast for it at the beginning of the season, but it didn't sustain too much damage," said Mr. Maddocks.

"It has been knocked off the foot so it has a lean to it now to the starboard side. It was almost afloat, the whole Ordnance Island was just awash. It did a little bit of deck damage as the mast shifted but because we re-rigged it really didn't suffer too much damage.

"When I came down here at seven in the evening when it was really hitting, I was watching for the mast to fall and it never did. It just kept holding in there, it was incredible."

Mr. Maddocks estimates the replica has a "three or four degree list to it", causing safety concerns for tours. "We'll get a crane in and pick it up and straighten it."

The replica was built in 1968 and Adventure Enterprises purchased it from the Junior Service League nine years ago.

Another historic boat on dry land also escaped serious damage. Alan Paris' BTC Velocity, which he sailed solo around the world, did not shift from its position in front of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute.

"I tied the boat up as best I thought I could but with the wind coming from what ended up being three directions throughout the entire storm, there is no way you can balance a boat for three different directions," said Mr. Paris yesterday.

He explained that the boat was tied in place by some container straps by some friends of his from BCM McAlpine.

"It moved a little bit and some wood that was under the support moved off at 45 degrees while a piece of wood that was under the bulb at the bottom of the keel is no longer there. It must have been vibrating and shaking a lot but it didn't fall over."

Mr. Paris was awaiting a phone call on Friday telling him the boat had been damaged but the call never did come.

"I was waiting for a phone call from someone telling me something," he said. "I figured if the call came quickly it would be somebody telling me the boat had fallen over.

"But then somebody I knew in Hamilton said they had driven past it and it was fine. The no-call was a good thing. A few people know who the boat belongs to and if it was on its side they would have called me.

"I think I was very lucky it wasn't. It would have been heartbreaking if I had come and seen the boat split wide open in the middle of the parking lot, which was a probability.

"There were many people who looked at me and said `good luck in the storm'. They didn't think the boat was going to make it. That boat has been underestimated all through its life."