The Bahamas in Recovery After Hurrican Dorian
By Fiona Liu
International News Writer
Starting as a tropical storm on August 23 and evolving into a hurricane on August 25, Dorian has left a huge hole in the Bahamas. It has been the most powerful storm to hit the Bahamas to date, killing at least 43 residents unable to evacuate. At least 35 of these deaths were in the Abaco Islands, according to Vox. According to the Washington Post, the islands are going to take months, even years, to recover.
More than 2500 people are missing, and more than 4000 homes have been destroyed, leaving close to 70,000 in the Bahamas and the Abaco Islands vulnerable and wandering. “In Grand Bahama, the central and eastern parts are the most impacted, with several homes damaged between Freetown and Deep Water Cay,” the UN reports. “Satellite data suggests that 76-100 percent of buildings analyzed near High Rock (central Grand Bahama) and McLeans Town and Deep Water Cay (eastern Grand Bahama) have been destroyed.”
The UN also reported, according to Vox, that the majority of communities never had sanitary water in the first place. After Dorian devastated the Bahamas, it moved toward Florida. As the hurricane continued northward, volunteer and rescue organizations such as the Red Cross, National Guard, and FEMA worked tirelessly to minimize the effects of this environmental and humanitarian disaster. Plans for recovery are slow but underway. Hubert Minnis, the prime minister of the Bahamas, has said the natural disaster will leave “generational devastation.”
Contact Fiona at fiona.liu@student.shu.edu