Hurricane Dorian - August/September 2019 #1

[CharlestonGal]

"Hundreds of people have lined up at a port on the devastated island of Abaco in the Bahamas to take a ferry back to Nassau.

Some people at the port have been waiting there since early morning after hearing that there would be boats for them to leave today.

Many of them recounted horrific stories of survival by breaking through rooftops or swimming onto boats to try and ride out the storm.

Some said that they had family members still missing and that they witnessed friends and neighbors drown in the storm surge."

Live updates: Hurricane Dorian's aftermath in the Bahamas - CNN

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[imstilla.grandma]

 

[crhedBngr]

Checking in . . . continued prayers going up for all.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

The medical chief of staff at Princess Margaret Hospital in Nassau said two refrigerated, 40-foot trucks would be needed to hold the "staggering" number of bodies likely to be found.

"We've ordered lots of body bags," said Dr. Caroline Burnett-Garraway.

The United Nations estimated 70,000 people were in "immediate need of life-saving assistance" such as food, water and shelter. The U.N. World Food Programme was airlifting storage units, generators, prefab offices, and satellite equipment as well as 8 metric tonnes of ready-to-eat meals.

The American Red Cross said it had committed an initial $2 million help the Bahamas recover from the hurricane, with food, water and shelter and other necessities.

"Our relief operation is growing, but we are also facing serious challenges in terms of delivering aid," Red Cross spokeswoman Jennifer Eli said. "Even search-and-rescue choppers haven't been able to reach some people because there's no place to land.

These challenges are affecting everyone." Near an area called The Mudd in Marsh Harbour, a commercial hub, a Reuters witness reported most houses leveled, the body of a man lying near a main street and dead dogs floating in water.

The US Coast Guard has rescued 295 people since Dorian began, the US Embassy in Nassau tweeted.

Relief groups were focusing on getting doctors, nurses and medical supplies into the hardest-hit areas and helping survivors get food and safe drinking water.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. committed $1 million for hurricane relief and its ship Norwegian Breakaway left Miami on Thursday with supplies donated by the company and its employees, in addition to items collected by the City of Miami and various charities.

Celebrity chef Josa Andras and members of his nonprofit, World Central Kitchen, were on the ground in the Bahamas to aid hurricane survivors by preparing thousands of meals.

The risk of outbreaks of diarrhea and waterborne diseases is high as drinking water may be tainted with sewage, according to the Pan American Health Organization, which described the situation for some people on Abaco island as "desperate." Claudin Loriston, 39, a Haitian carpenter, said he and his three young children were among the "lucky ones" to get on a plane out of Abaco. He said he had no documents with him, but would try to get a job to support his family.

"There are too many dead bodies there. The government needs to remove everyone from the island, the smell is everywhere, it's in the water."
Relief efforts ramp up amid fear of 'staggering' death toll in Bahamas

 

[CharlestonGal]

Here's a pretty good summation from Time of the current situation in the Bahamas.

Bodies Crushed By Debris, Looting, and Limited Sanitation: Bahamas Survivors Describe Dorian’s Aftermath

 

[Bravo]

So very heartbroken for all affected but the Bahamas......epic proportions. I have many pieces picked up on our many trips to Freeport from blown glass to many shells, silver dollars, driftwood from the many stunning beaches we visited. I keep picking them up and holding them. Then I cry...…..Some of the people we often talked to. In the grocery store. The man and his wife who sold the daily newspaper from the trunk of their weathered car near Port Lucaya. We always stopped and bought one and they were so sweet. I hope they are all safe. Yet I will likely never know. I will always treasure my "little treasures". Praying for all those who survived this nightmare.

 

[PayrollNerd]

Every single one of them are refugees. Much like any refugee in any country, anywhere in the world, they need everything but most of all they deserve their dignity. I am thrilled to see the world pulling together to rescue them. I am impressed with their PM and his willingness to recognize they are all human. Not focusing on their ethnic origins, not their skin color, not their country of birth. Just humans taking care of fellow humans.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Here's a pretty good summation from Time of the current situation in the Bahamas.

Bodies Crushed By Debris, Looting, and Limited Sanitation: Bahamas Survivors Describe Dorian’s Aftermath

From your link:

“All the banks are gone, all the grocery stores are gone. I haven’t spent money in six days. It’s just been trade — ‘O.K., you have gas, I have a truck. You have food, I have somewhere to stay,'” Symonette says. “The evacuation planes are charging $200 a person. A lot of people left their houses with just clothes on. With the Bahamian government, there’s a lot of frustration now, because people are saying we don’t have anything [and] we need to be evacuated.”

Symonette has also seen people walking around carrying firearms and breaking into stores. The local gas station and two hardware stores — which sold guns — have been looted, he says.

Although many people are trying desperately to leave the islands, others are determined to stay, Symonette says. The storm decimated a settlement of makeshift shelters built by Great Abaco’s longtime Haitian community. As some of the Haitians are not documented immigrants, they have begun to take shelter inside abandoned houses.

“If they go to Nassau, [they think] they’re going to be put in a detention center because a lot of them don’t have papers,” Symonette says. (The Bahamas apprehended or helped to apprehend 1,172 Haitians in 2018, according to the Royal Bahamas Defense Force.)

***Why are they charging $200 to aboard an evacuation plane?

 

[CharlestonGal]

"***Why are they charging $200 to aboard an evacuation plane?"

Private pilots trying to make a few bucks out of the situation? If so, that is disgusting.

 

[Bravo]

I hate to even type it but Hurricane season is just starting!!!!

 

[imstilla.grandma]

There are several ways you can help assist storm victims:

American Red Cross
The American Red Cross is collecting funds to assist with recovery efforts. You can donate online here or via mail using the donation formsent to American Red Cross, PO Box 37839, Boone, IA, 50037-0839. Phone donations can be made at 1-800-435-7669.

CNN/Impact Your World
CNN and Impact Your World have teamed to accept donations. The funds go to support 14 different relief organizations. Donations can be made here.

Grand Bahama Port Authority
The Grand Bahama Port Authority has set up the Grand Bahama Disaster Relief Fund. The funds will be managed by the non-profit Coastal Community Foundation of South Carolina.

Project Hope
Project Hope is raising funds for medical supplies and relief in the Bahamas. You can donate here.

Samaritan’s Purse
Samaritan’s Purse has airlifted its Emergency Field Hospital and a medical team to the Bahamas, along with 30 tons of emergency supplies and a dozen-member disaster relief team. The organizations is accepting donations here.

North American Mission Board
The North American Mission Board is sending teams and relief supplies. You can find out more about donating through your state here.

Hurricane Dorian: How to help relief efforts in the Bahamas

 

[PayrollNerd]

"***Why are they charging $200 to aboard an evacuation plane?"

Private pilots trying to make a few bucks out of the situation? If so, that is disgusting.

This was exactly what I was outraged about!!! WTH? If you can afford a plane and fuel, help out, if not, go away!!!!!

 

[CharlestonGal]

"Hurricane Dorian is making its way for Nova Scotia, Canada, with dangerous storm surge and strong winds, after lashing the Massachusetts coast during its northward path.

Tropical storm conditions had spread throughout the southwestern portions of the Canadian province by Saturday afternoon, with winds of 85 mph. Strong winds and heavy rain are expected later Saturday, with Dorian on track to make landfall in Nova Scotia during the early evening hours.

The storm, still a Category 1, is now moving away from the U.S. Officials, however, said residents can expect a rough surf on much of the Northeast/mid-Atlantic coastlines.

A tropical storm warning along the Massachusetts coast was canceled but remains in effect along the Maine coast."

Hurricane Dorian racing toward Nova Scotia after lashing Massachusetts

 

[CharlestonGal]

@pugmom - How's it going??

 

[MsFacetious]

@Lexiintoronto you still taking deep breaths with us here?

 

[CharlestonGal]

"Helicopters airlifted food and water to stranded residents of a North Carolina Outer Banks island Friday after it suffered “catastrophic flooding” as Hurricane Dorian swept up the coast, the governor said."
[...]
"But the storm surge left behind inundated Ocracoke Island where about 800 people stayed during the hurricane, Gov. Roy Cooper said.

"Many homes and buildings are still underwater," he said.

The governor planned Saturday to visit counties along the coast to assess the damage.

“People on the ground who felt the effects of Dorian are our focus today,” he said in a statement. “Getting food, water and medical help to the people in need is the first priority."

Hundreds stranded on N.C. island, 'catastrophic' flooding as Dorian moves off coast

 

[CharlestonGal]

"Steve Harris has lived on Ocracoke Island for most of the last 19 years. He’s ridden out eight hurricanes, but he said he’d never seen a storm bring such devastation to his community, which is accessible only by boat or air and is popular with tourists for its undeveloped beaches.

“We just thought it was gonna be a normal blow,” Harris, a semi-retired contractor, said Friday. “But the damage is going to be severe this time. This is flooding of biblical proportions.”

Gov. Roy Cooper said about 800 people had remained on the island to wait out Dorian and it appeared to be the hardest hit. The storm made landfall Friday morning over the Outer Banks as a far weaker storm than the monster that devastated the Bahamas. Yet despite having been downgraded to a Category 1 storm, it still sent seawater surging over neighborhoods on Ocracoke, flooding the first floors of many homes."

Stranded North Carolinians take stock of Dorian's damage

 

[JudgeJoe]

This was exactly what I was outraged about!!! WTH? If you can afford a plane and fuel, help out, if not, go away!!!!!

EXACTLY! If you’re flying in to charge evacuees $200 - or take pics to sell to MSM... go home & get the F out of the airspace desperately needed by those who really WILL HELP. JMVHAO.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

“These guys don’t know how to vector people; they don’t know how to create traffic flow. Sandy Point for me is a 15-minute flight, and I got vectored for an hour,” said the pilot, referring to instructions from the air traffic control tower to fly around until permission is given to land. “And they tell you to fly slow so that they can get all of this other traffic in.

“We’ve got to get thousands of people off Abaco,” he added, describing the scene at the Sandy Point airport on the southern part of Great Abaco Island, where many people have been sleeping for days waiting for rescue. “These guys don’t understand how urgent it is.”

The pilot, who had hoped to do four runs between Sandy Point and Nassau, said after 11 hours in the Bahamas on Thursday, he was able to do just one run and evacuate 11 people. In addition to local Bahamian air traffic controllers being poorly trained to handle the overflow of planes, the pilot said, “people that are flying over from the States and sightseeing are not helping.”

“The small airplanes that want to help, I love them to death. But please stay away right now, don’t come in because you have guys like myself with big heavy airplanes and guys with helicopters who can land and get people medically evacuated. They just need to stay away. If they want to help, make donations to local groups or send things over on a boat.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/weather/hurricane/article234792032.html