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Thousands listed as missing in the Bahamas as rescuers, family members try to find survivors
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — As rescue crews continue to look for and evacuate people from the devastated islands of Great Abaco and Grand Bahama, relatives and friends are trying desperately to find loved ones in the Bahamas amid the chaos of recovery after Hurricane Dorian.
Access to the battered northern islands, where the storm caused catastrophic damage, has been limited. Search and rescue teams, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the British Royal Navy, were on the islands Wednesday trying to find survivors.
But amid communication lapses and widespread decimation, news about individuals is slow to arrive and difficult to find, so thousands of people have taken to social media to track down their kin.
One site - dorianpeoplesearch.com - started trying to help on Sunday night, in the middle of the storm, when a Realtor in Nassau said she saw a growing need even while the hurricane was still hitting the islands. Vanessa Pritchard-Ansell said Facebook groups of worried people had grown so numerous and unwieldy that it made finding names of those missing difficult. A Google Docs spreadsheet had grown to 40 pages and was difficult to navigate, she said.
"Each of those Facebook pages had a purpose, people asking for information about their loved ones," Pritchard-Ansell said. "My concern was that the purpose would get lost."
By Wednesday, friends and family members of more than 5,500 people still missing had posted on Pritchard-Ansell's site. She said she is working with the U.S. and Canadian embassies to cross-check names with citizens of those countries.
She has international team of volunteers helping.
Read more: Thousands listed as missing in the Bahamas as rescuers, family members try to find survivors
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — As rescue crews continue to look for and evacuate people from the devastated islands of Great Abaco and Grand Bahama, relatives and friends are trying desperately to find loved ones in the Bahamas amid the chaos of recovery after Hurricane Dorian.
Access to the battered northern islands, where the storm caused catastrophic damage, has been limited. Search and rescue teams, including the U.S. Coast Guard and the British Royal Navy, were on the islands Wednesday trying to find survivors.
But amid communication lapses and widespread decimation, news about individuals is slow to arrive and difficult to find, so thousands of people have taken to social media to track down their kin.
One site - dorianpeoplesearch.com - started trying to help on Sunday night, in the middle of the storm, when a Realtor in Nassau said she saw a growing need even while the hurricane was still hitting the islands. Vanessa Pritchard-Ansell said Facebook groups of worried people had grown so numerous and unwieldy that it made finding names of those missing difficult. A Google Docs spreadsheet had grown to 40 pages and was difficult to navigate, she said.
"Each of those Facebook pages had a purpose, people asking for information about their loved ones," Pritchard-Ansell said. "My concern was that the purpose would get lost."
By Wednesday, friends and family members of more than 5,500 people still missing had posted on Pritchard-Ansell's site. She said she is working with the U.S. and Canadian embassies to cross-check names with citizens of those countries.
She has international team of volunteers helping.
Read more: Thousands listed as missing in the Bahamas as rescuers, family members try to find survivors
