Colleagues of the Humanitarian and Disaster Relief (HADR) team from the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s RFA Mounts Bay deliver supplies after Tornado Dorian on the island of Great Abaco, Bahamas September 4, 2019.
LPhot Paul Halliwell | Royal Navy | Reuters
Volunteers persist in to search for victims and survivors after Hurricane Dorian blasted the Bahamas with Category 5 winds, decimating full neighborhoods and effectively leaving more than 70,000 people homeless.
Five days after the storm hit the northern end of the Bahamas, the death toll is at 43 people and is expected to rise significantly. Hundreds more are missing on Super Bahama and the Abaco Islands as charities, government organizations and even cruise lines rush aid to the area.
“Forty-three is the ceremonial count, many missing and this number is expected to grow significantly,” said Erica Wells Cox, a spokeswoman for Prime Ambassador Hubert Minnis.
Dorian, one of the most powerful hurricanes on record to hit the Bahamas, sat over the island for nearly two days earlier this week, wreaking mayhem and raising questions over the role of climate change in producing more intense hurricanes that stall down targeted areas.
People recover items from a beached boat after Hurricane Dorian September 5, 2019, in Quagmire Harbor, Great Abaco.
Brendan Smialowski | AFP | Getty Images
Dorian did at least $7 billion in damage, mutual understanding to some estimates.
As of Saturday morning, Coast Guard crews had rescued 290 people in the Bahamas since reply efforts began. Residents continue to rush to Marsh Harbour’s wharf at the port in hopes of getting on ferry sailing-boats to evacuate the area.
The Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line said it’s providing food, water and medical supplies to sacrificial lambs, and said it transported more than 1,550 hurricane evacuees aboard a cruise ship that arrived in West Palm Shore on Saturday. All the evacuees who arrived are properly documented to enter the US, according to Customs and Border Protection.
Additionally, thousands of chewing-out shares of waterproof plastic will be sent to replace roofs on damaged homes, according to the International Organization for Migration. The Period Food Programme, the food-assistance branch of the UN, has also sent nearly 15,000 meals to the islands, which should hit town on Saturday.
The situation is a “humanitarian crisis,” the Bahamian financial services ministry said on Friday. The nation has a population of regarding 400,000 people.
Thousand of people were listed on the website Dorian People Search Bahamas as of Saturday morning by loved ones worrisome to find information about displaced residents.
The Trump administration ordered airlift and logistical support from the Defense Activity be contingent on Friday to support relief efforts. Trump on Saturday claimed that Prime Minister Minnis said that aid from the U.S. see fit help mitigate casualties.
“Thank you to Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis for your very gracious and affable words in saying that without the help of the United States and me, their would have been many more mishaps,” Trump said.
“Give all credit to FEMA, the U.S. Coast Guard, & the brave people of the Bahamas.”