Grand Bahama and Abaco Islands After Hurricane Dorian: ‘Total Devastation. Apocalyptic.’
September 4th, 2019Via: USA Today:
The death toll from Hurricane Dorian reached seven and was expected to climb in the Bahamas on Wednesday as rescue teams raced the clock to provide food, water, medicine and shelter to thousands left homeless by the devastating storm.
The sun shone brightly over the beleaguered archipelago, revealing the overwhelming destruction across Grand Bahama and Abaco islands after the storm rolled in Sunday as a Category 5 hurricane and lingered for days.
Entire communities were flattened and roads washed out. Hospitals and airports were swamped by several feet of water. The government urged residents stuck in their homes to cut holes in the ceilings in case water rushed in and trapped families awaiting rescue.
Clarence Ingram, the Salvation Army’s division commander in the Bahamas, said relief efforts are hamstrung by flooded airports and swamped roads on the two most severely ravaged islands, home to about 70,000 Bahamians. About 60,000 of them need help immediately, he said.
“This is dire,” Ingram told USA TODAY. “And relief efforts providing for basic human needs such as food and water will probably go on for several months.”
