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Vol. 30, Issue 35 BROOKLYN EDITION Sept. 6, 2019
CARICOM RESPONDS TO DORIAN
A family is escorted to a safe zone after they were rescued as Hurricane Dorian continues
to rain in Freeport, Bahamas, Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019. The center of Hurricane Dorian is fi -
nally moving away from Grand Bahama island but the U.S. National Hurricane Center says
the island will continue getting dangerous winds and life-threatening storm surge through
the evening. Associated Press / Ramon Espinosa
By Bert Wilkinson
Fellow Caribbean Community
nations are rushing to the
aid of The Bahamas after the
most powerful Atlantic storm
on record pummeled two of
its famous Family Islands but
even as authorities begin a sorrowful
assessment of the damage,
the head of government
urged locals to brace for a rising
death toll.
Prime Minister Hubert
Minnis said the seven deaths
recorded so far cannot be the
final death toll so Bahamians
must prepare for higher numbers
after ceiling-high flood
waters from Hurricane Dorian
recede and after search and rescue
teams reach affected areas.
Minnis and other officials
said Abaco which is east in line
of Fort Lauderdale in Florida
and in the north of the Bahamian
chain of 700 islands, was
in a state of complete ruin and
a similar situation existed in
Grand Bahama which is off
Central Florida.
Officials say close to 15,000
homes have been completely
flattened or so badly damaged
that near term habitation
would be impossible. Relief
teams in the capital Nassau and
other areas pounded only by
heavy rain and gusting winds,
are preparing food hampers for
close to 80,000 rain-soaked and
very desperate people. Dorian
hit as the archipelago was
preparing for a record year of
cruise ship arrivals and as the
land-based hospitality sector
was bracing for similar good
fortune.
A shaken Transport Minister
Renward Wells said no one
“could’ve been prepared for
what the country has experienced.”
Deputy Prime Minister
Peter Turnquest moaned
that it would take “hundreds
of millions, if not billions” to
repair Abaco and Grand Bahama
as Category Five winds of
above 180 miles per hour not
only pounded the two northern
islands but stayed over them for
hours, dumping tons of rain on
the land.
“We have had catastrophic
damage to both the public
and private infrastructure
that will take hundreds of millions,
if not billions to fund
recovery and reconstruction.
With approximately 70 percent
of the homes under water, we
anticipate tremendous social
and economic dislocation and
disruption in the short term.
The mental health of those
who have endured this monster
storm is a priority concern of
the government,” he said.
As local officials coordinated
relief efforts with the US,
Caricom response and other
international teams, Bahamas’
neighbors lined up to offer
assistance to Bahamians in the
coming days.
Governments and private
sector organizations in Guyana,
Jamaica, Trinidad, Barba-
Continued on Page 18
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