Hurricane Dorian - August/September 2019 #2

[imstilla.grandma]

The Bahamas’ minister of health says the government is in no way suppressing Hurricane Dorian’s death toll, and are tallying confirmed deaths that have arrived at the morgue.

With people reporting on social media that they have personally counted scores of dead bodies, and others asking why the government isn’t telling the truth about the number of individuals who died in the Abacos and on Grand Bahama Island during Hurricane Dorian’s catastrophic Category 5 winds, Health Minister Duane Sands said the narrative is “false” and unfortunate.

The public, he said, should have a better appreciation for the task facing the Bahamas, which has U.S. search and recovery teams, cadaver dogs and U.S. Coast Guard helicopters combing the devastation in search of missing individuals. Meanwhile, teams have begun setting up field hospitals, including a mobile floating hospital to cover a number of the Abaco cays, and the government is preparing to build temporary shelter facilities for storm victims.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article234857817.html

 

[margarita25]

The Bahamas’ minister of health says the government is in no way suppressing Hurricane Dorian’s death toll, and are tallying confirmed deaths that have arrived at the morgue.

With people reporting on social media that they have personally counted scores of dead bodies, and others asking why the government isn’t telling the truth about the number of individuals who died in the Abacos and on Grand Bahama Island during Hurricane Dorian’s catastrophic Category 5 winds, Health Minister Duane Sands said the narrative is “false” and unfortunate.

The public, he said, should have a better appreciation for the task facing the Bahamas, which has U.S. search and recovery teams, cadaver dogs and U.S. Coast Guard helicopters combing the devastation in search of missing individuals. Meanwhile, teams have begun setting up field hospitals, including a mobile floating hospital to cover a number of the Abaco cays, and the government is preparing to build temporary shelter facilities for storm victims.
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article234857817.html

BRAVO. EXACTLY, MOO.

 

[CharlestonGal]

Florida Sens. Marco Rubio and Rick Scott have asked the Trump administration to waive visa requirements for displaced Bahamian citizens with close relatives in the US.

Environmental migrants are not covered by the Geneva Convention on the status of refugees, which protects people fleeing persecution, war or violence.

Jacqueline Bhabha, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, said there are strong humanitarian reasons for temporarily admitting displaced Bahamians to the US as was done after the Haiti earthquake in 2010 and Hurricane Mitch in Central America in 1998.

"They aren't really strictly speaking refugees but they are people who need protection and who may well need protection and who may well need refuge outside their country," she said.

Bahamas: For the 70,000 left homeless, the future is uncertain - CNN

 

[CharlestonGal]

“I don’t think the world knows how many people died,” Valesha Johnson said, after escaping the storm-ravaged Abaco Islands and catching an evacuation flight to Nassau.

After what she has lived through, the 23-year-old is confused, and others here in the Bahamas echo the same: Why is the Bahamian government not releasing casualty numbers that reflect the reality of what she and others have seen?

The official death toll so far stands at 43, according to Bahamian authorities.

“No, no, no, no way,” Johnson said. “Absolutely no way.”

“This is just like 9/11 for us. We’re scarred,” Johnson said.

“Through the rumble, we saw that they were there,” she said. “You’re walking over bodies. You’re seeing trucks, flatbed trucks, loaded with bodies.”

Valesha Johnson survived nearly a week before escaping her home in the Abacos, where there is no water, no gasoline, no power. She and others scavenged what they could out of demolished stores, she said.

She had to climb over smashed shelves and rummage through debris, and sometimes fight, to find juice and water or grab cans of food as they floated by, she said.

“You’re fighting people,” she said. “Stepping over [bodies] just to get water for our family.”

Hurricane Dorian survivors take stock as death toll rises in the Bahamas

This story is going to get a whole lot worse, I fear.

 

[sallye818]

I think the casualty numbers are reflecting OFFICIAL confirmation. I'm sure not only does the body have to be found, picked up & transported to a "morgue", but also they're probably attempting to ID bodies and notify some next of kin if at all possible. Right now, I think the living people are taking priority, as they need just the basics (including protection from the diseases and contamination from corpses and poor/no sanitation). I watched a few interviews with Joy Jibralu (SP?) out of the Islands and she stated that they don't want people to lose hope of relatives, co-workers, etc., being alive if and until there's official confirmation.

That being said, I also have thought from the beginning that the final death tolls will be monumental. It will take weeks or months to confirm the numbers and as many on WS have said, many people have probably been swept into the ocean and will just be presumed dead

 

[MimosaMornings]

Albury's Ferry

Wow, I would have thought those ferries would have been packed with people evacuating from those areas. Especially with a cat 5 coming!

 

[CharlestonGal]

Albury's Ferry

Wow, I would have thought those ferries would have been packed with people evacuating from those areas. Especially with a cat 5 coming!

With so many hurricanes having blown through the Bahamas over the years, I honestly think people were just expecting "the usual" and instead got a disaster of epic proportions. Who could have imagined this beast ramping up to 185 mph and just sitting there for nearly 2 days? It's hard to wrap your head around. Those poor people. I can't even begin to imagine.

 

[MimosaMornings]

The thought of trying to ride out even a usual hurricane in a home on one of the cays with an elevation of 9 feet above sea level would have been terrifying to me. The aftermath is horrific.

 

[pugmom]

Hey guys...been trying to check in but the internet isn't working the best. Still no power/running water. The sun is out but the wind has really come up again. Can't get much information as to what is going on/timeline of everything but it seems that we might be in for the long haul. Thanks for all the links...I've got some shopping to do once I can get back online for more than a few minutes at a time!

 

[Bravo]

Glad you checked in pugmom. Stay safe.

 

[MimosaMornings]

Thanks for checking in @pugmom

I agree on the headlight @margarita25.

We get a nice booklet every year at the start of hurricane season from the county with a checklist, phone numbers, coupons, tips, etc. One of the best things for information was the set up of an open community group Facebook page for the area.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

I didn’t sleep very well last night. I was troubled...
with myself. my emotions. my thoughts. my words.

I often feel that I’m on some kind of personal mission to spend kindness in the world and increase compassion and understanding. I fail and fall. Often. I always get back up. But I’m getting older. I’m a little slow to rise.

I never realized this until reading some of the posts last night. I’ve let the immensity of this epic catastrophe and my emotions wander away from who I think I am. So thank you! I’ve been really angry at the Bahamian government. Very. I still am but with with a different perspective. I feel so helpless. Their failure to strategically and properly prepare for a disaster is overwhelming enough. But what country could ever predict a quasi-apocalypse? All citizens of the Bahamas are experiencing personal crisis on some level. All. I feel hopeful today seeing reports of their government addressing critical public concerns. They know the world is watching them. What a difference 24 hours can make. One day at a time. Humanity will rise to the occasion. God says so.

My hope is that everyone learns from what we came here to comment about today- it’s just never right to be unkind, even if we feel justified somehow. Speak up. Yes.

Least said, soonest mended. Every. Single. Time. Thanks.
Pam



I’d like to share a favorite passage:

“Compassion asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain,
to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish.

Compassion challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely,
to weep with those in tears.

Compassion requires us to be weak with the weak, vulnerable with the vulnerable,
and powerless with the powerless.

Compassion means full immersion in the condition of being human.”

-Henri Nouwen

 

[scdiv]

This is a shame - local couple in my area died in a storm related fire in Mt. Pleasant, suburb of Charleston. The winds were so loud around that time early Thursday morning that it woke me up and I was regretting that we hadn't evacuated. I actually thought it was more scary sounding outside around 4-6am than it was when the eye was actually going by us. Property damage can be fixed, but hate that people lost their lives. I didn't even think of things like fires. Your whole focus is on storm surge aftermath and flooding.

Fire in the hurricane: Suddenly, a son loses his parents in Mount Pleasant

 

[Bravo]

Thank You imstilla.grandma. Your feelings are shared and I needed your lovely passage.

 

[CharlestonGal]

Hey guys...been trying to check in but the internet isn't working the best. Still no power/running water. The sun is out but the wind has really come up again. Can't get much information as to what is going on/timeline of everything but it seems that we might be in for the long haul. Thanks for all the links...I've got some shopping to do once I can get back online for more than a few minutes at a time!

Thanks for checking in! Yeah, the power/water issue gets old really fast. I hope your service gets restored quickly and that you remain safe.

 

[Bravo]

This is a shame - local couple in my area died in a storm related fire in Mt. Pleasant, suburb of Charleston. The winds were so loud around that time early Thursday morning that it woke me up and I was regretting that we hadn't evacuated. I actually thought it was more scary sounding outside around 4-6am than it was when the eye was actually going by us. Property damage can be fixed, but hate that people lost their lives. I didn't even think of things like fires. Your whole focus is on storm surge aftermath and flooding.

Fire in the hurricane: Suddenly, a son loses his parents in Mount Pleasant

I am so very sorry. So true that fire is the last thing we think about.

 

[Anance]

Yes, even in the most dismal times you need $$ to keep functioning.

One of my preparations for Dorian was taking cash out of the ATM. Waited in a line of 8 cars.

 

[Bravo]

One of my preparations for Dorian was taking cash out of the ATM. Waited in a line of 8 cars.

Glad u are safe Anance

 

[CharlestonGal]

One of my preparations for Dorian was taking cash out of the ATM. Waited in a line of 8 cars.

I keep cash in my hurricane kit. One less thing to do come crunch time.

 

[Tricia]

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