Hurricane Dorian - August/September 2019 #2

[Gardener1850]

I read that a lot of people hunkered down in shelters at buildings such as schools and churches. Have we seen any specific references as to how those shelters held up? Tia, was just wondering.

The most specific account I have seen is by the storm chaser Josh Morgerman. The first shelter he was in (an elementary school) was destroyed and they had to move to another building during the eye of the storm:

Morgerman's last tweet before going dark was worrisome: "11:40 am. Pounding. CRASHING. Boards prying off windows. We're moving children to a safe space, wrapping them in blankets. 969 mg. #DORIAN."

Morgerman explained to The Weather Channel that the concrete school he had sheltered in was largely destroyed by 185 mile-per-hour winds while he was in it.

After the front of the storm passed, Morgerman stepped out of the shelter and into the eye of the storm. "Cars were just thrown all over the place and mutilated and a lot of the building had collapsed," he told The Weather Channel.

During the limited calm offered in the storm's eye, Morgerman and other survivors piled into the few cars that had survived the front end of the storm and sped to a much sturdier government complex.

"There were so many people crammed in," he said. "You can't imagine. There was hundreds and hundreds of people crammed into what was basically an office building." He described many of the survivors as injured and bleeding, and said he had heard reports of "many deaths."

Morgerman explained that he had chosen the Central Abaco Primary School to ride out the storm because he thought he had a "better chance of getting in the eye" of the storm, and because he thought it might keep him out of the storm surge.

Hurricane Chaser Josh Morgerman Emerges After Days of Silence | The Weather Channel

 

[CharlestonGal]

In Marsh Harbour on the Abacos, where 90% of infrastructure is damaged or destroyed, search-and-rescue teams were working through the rubble while residents complained that aid had been too slow in arriving.

"We've had to funnel gasoline out of destroyed cars to get injured people back and forth. There's no food, no medicine and no water," said 37-year-old Tepeto Davis. "We're suffering out here and no-one cares about us."

Some of the most affected areas were shanty towns, many of them populated by Haitian workers. One of them, known as the Mudd, was almost totally wiped out by the hurricane, and bodies were still waiting to be collected.

There were also fears that diarrhoea and waterborne diseases could spread as drinking water might be contaminated, the Pan American Health Organization said.

Bahamas defends hurricane response amid criticism

 

[CharlestonGal]

Nova Scotians were dealing Sunday with streets littered with massive downed trees, branches and snapped power lines in the wake of Dorian — a powerful storm that battered the province with torrential rain and hurricane-force winds.

Halifax was hit particularly hard by the storm, which arrived in the region Saturday afternoon as a fierce Category 2 hurricane and was downgraded to a post-tropical storm later in the evening when it made landfall near the capital city.

Trees were uprooted and resting on homes in the Halifax area, their roots exposed as they lifted up the surrounding sidewalks.

Some cellphone networks were affected by the storm or by the lack of power and crews were out making repairs.

People could be seen collecting debris from their yards in a cool, crisp wind Sunday morning, as municipal crews worked to remove larger branches.

Nova Scotia Education Minister Zach Churchill announced that all public schools in the province would be closed Monday as crews worked to assess the safety of school buildings and properties.

More than 300,000 customers were still without power around 3 p.m. Sunday. Nova Scotia Power said 400,000 of its customers were in the dark at the peak of the storm.

The company warned it could be days before some people's lights come back on as crews must cut apart trees and restore lines.

Hundreds of Canadian Armed Forces members were deploying the Halifax region to help with cleanup efforts, and hundreds more were standing by.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/dorian-cleanup-aftermath-nova-scotia-dorian-1.5275182

 

[CharlestonGal]

Pictures and videos during and in the aftermath of Dorian in Nova Scotia. @pugmom and @Lexiintoronto - how's it going up there?

Here's what Nova Scotia looks like after Hurricane Dorian (PHOTOS, VIDEOS) | News

 

[margarita25]

Corpses Strewn, People Missing a Week After Dorian Hit the Bahamas

 

[CharlestonGal]

Corpses Strewn, People Missing a Week After Dorian Hit the Bahamas

And though the government has not provided the identities of the victims, or information about where they died, many Abaconians suspect that some of the highest concentrations of fatalities will be in the sprawling, illegally constructed shantytowns of Marsh Harbour known as the Mudd and Pigeon Peas.

Thousands of people, most of them Haitian laborers and their families, lived in those two contiguous communities, labyrinths of rudimentary homes mostly built from plywood and two-by-fours.

While the Bahamas has one of the strictest building codes in the region, most if not all of the structures in the Mudd and Pigeon Peas did not adhere to them.

The hurricane last week blasted the neighborhoods’ homes to pieces and reduced the area to a vast debris field of splintered wood, pulverized cinder block, twisted metal, scattered personal belongings — and bodies.

There are still corpses pinned under fallen timber, wedged where the surging floodwaters deposited them.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

On August 30, CNN sent the three of us to Freeport, on Grand Bahama, to cover the storm. The trip was so last-minute that we bought many of the staples of hurricane coverage at an airport newsstand: beef jerky, peanut butter and as many water bottles as we could carry.
We had to scramble to catch American Airlines flight 3489 from Miami, which turned out to be the last from the US to Grand Bahama before Dorian hit.
Our first sign that this hurricane was going to be exceptionally dangerous was when a gate agent announced over the intercom that only Grand Bahama residents would be allowed on the flight. All hotels would be closed, he said. If you didn't live there, you would have nowhere to stay.

Then a supervisor walked over and overruled him.
"These are the guys that go stand in the rain on TV," he said, motioning to us. "If you want to risk your lives, go for it."
'Grand Bahama right now is dead': A firsthand look at Dorian's destruction - CNN

 

[margarita25]

“On Sunday, white-clad body recovery crews were working their way through a field of rubble on the island of Abaco on the hunt for the hidden victims of Hurricane Dorian, following the smell of rotting flesh through the rubble.”

Snip

“As those who survived Dorian are continuing to flee the area of Marsh Harbour by boat and plane, search and recovery crews are finally punching deeper into the mountains of debris, going house to house looking for the dead.”

Snip

“The body count “is not the priority,” he said. “The priority is find those people for their loved ones who are missing them; to take care, provide comfort to those people who are hurt, who are suffering, that’s the priority. To put food in people’s bellies, water in their throat.”

-more at link

Counting bodies ‘not the priority’: Bahamas not lying about Dorian deaths, health chief says
SEPTEMBER 08, 2019
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/world/americas/article234857817.html

 

[Simply Southern]

Good morning to Chef Jose

Chef Jose, begged for one one helicopter. He got 2 more and sea planes. Prayers answered!!!!

José Andrés on Twitter

No rest today in Bahamas! @WCKitchen delivered over 20,000 meals across the three big islands plus many small ones...adapting to whatever we could use—seaplane, 3 helicopters + boat! We visited new communities, even evacuated sick & now establishing daily routes! #ChefsForBahamas José Andrés on Twitter


Jmo

 

[Simply Southern]

CBP Florida on Twitter

U.S. Customs and Border Protection strongly encourages private vessel and aircraft operators to coordinate any evacuation missions with Bahamian authorities before evacuating anyone from The Bahamas.
@USEmbassyNassau open for emergency visa appointments CBP Advises Vessel and Aircraft Operators to Coordinate Bahamas Evacuation Efforts with U.S., Bahamas Authorities | U.S. Customs and Border Protection CBP Florida on Twitter

U.S. Embassy Nassau is open for emergency visa appointments. Detailed information on all requirements and processes, as well as a Step-by-Step guide to visa applications for Bahamians, can be found at Nonimmigrant Visas | U.S. Embassy in The Bahamas.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

"We are grateful for your concern and inquiry. Hurricane Dorian has delivered a devastating blow to two of our major islands – Grand Bahama and Abaco. All of us are still reeling form the loss of life, homes destroyed and landscape damaged. Relief teams are currently being deployed ad are providing assistance to those in need.

We have family, friends, colleagues with ties to Abaco and Grand Bahama. At the Bahamas Ministry of tourism and aviation, we will continue to pray for the safety of those on these islands and we will support the rescue efforts of our emergency responders. Our most important support will be in enduring that our tourism industry, which has had a very robust run, continues to operate a high level so that we can recover and rebuild.
A Message from the Bahamas Tourist Office #BahamasStrong

 

[CharlestonGal]

Ellison Thompson, deputy director general of the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Aviation, said the ministry is working around the clock to tell the world that top destinations like Nassau, the Exumas, Eleuthera and Bimini are doing fine.

“In order for the reconstruction to happen, we would need our visitors to keep coming, so taxes can be used to aid in the reconstruction of those two islands [Abaco and Grand Bahama, where Dorian hit],” Thompson told the Orlando Sentinel. Preliminary estimates put the cost of the damage at $7 billion, according to Bloomberg.

An aggressive message is crucial in the days and weeks following the storm, said Robertico Croes, an expert with the University of Central Florida who studies tourism economics in small and developing countries.

“The whole thing here is speed,” Croes said. “The quicker they can convince everybody that the southern part has not been affected and business can go on there and, as a matter of fact, it’s a good thing for business to go there, then [the faster] the south can help the north.”

After Hurricane Dorian, the Bahamas prepares for another hit — to its crucial tourism industry

 

[JerseyGirl]

In Dorian’s wake, a shattered town haunted by its missing

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...95d42c-d0e8-11e9-a620-0a91656d7db6_story.html

A growing list of the missing has gone online — Dorianpeoplesearch.com

 

[CharlestonGal]

In Dorian’s wake, a shattered town haunted by its missing

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...95d42c-d0e8-11e9-a620-0a91656d7db6_story.html

A growing list of the missing has gone online — Dorianpeoplesearch.com

So many listed as "status unknown". So sad.

 

[JerseyGirl]

The deadly hurricane is expected to merge with Tropical Storm Gabrielle to batter Britain in the next few days with two inches of rain.

Dorian's remnants are set to strike on Tuesday and Wednesday and further gusts and deluges are expected on Thursday and Friday after the winds are sent spinning past the Azores.

But first, Monday will see thunderstorms sweep into South West England and South Wales. The Met Office warns that "slow-moving heavy showers and thunderstorms could cause travel disruption" between 10am and 8pm.

There is also the risk of flooding, disruption to road and rail travel, power cuts and damage from lightening strikes.

Dorian and Storm Gabrielle set to blast Scots with 50mph gales & rain

 

[JerseyGirl]

Good Samaritans rescue pelicans on Virginia Beach bridge during Hurricane Dorian :: WRAL.com

 

[CharlestonGal]

Over the weekend, nearly 1,500 evacuees arrived in Palm Beach, Florida, on board the Grand Celebration humanitarian cruise ship. All of them were properly documented to enter the country, US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) said.

But on Sunday, a different story.

In a social media video taken aboard a ferry boat leaving the Bahamas, posted on Twitter by CNN affiliate WSVN reporter Brian Entin, an unidentified person announces via a loudspeaker that anyone traveling to the United States without a visa must disembark.

Entin told CNN he was on a Balearia ferry from Freeport to Fort Lauderdale when the announcement was made Sunday. His video shows families with children disembarking the vessel. One woman told Entin that as many as 130 people left the ferry after the announcement.

On its website, CBP says visas are not required for Bahamian residents flying into the US from the Bahamas if they also meet other criteria, including possessing a valid passport or travel documents, having no criminal record and carrying a police certificate issued within the past six months.

"This is the height of cruelty -- denying help to those who need it most," Democratic presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke said on Twitter Sunday night. "This administration has said the words on the Statue of Liberty should be rewritten, and in their actions, they are already changing who we are as a country."

Bahamas: As evacuations continue, dozens of islanders were told to get off a ferry headed to the US - CNN

 

[pugmom]

Pictures and videos during and in the aftermath of Dorian in Nova Scotia. @pugmom and @Lexiintoronto - how's it going up there?

Here's what Nova Scotia looks like after Hurricane Dorian (PHOTOS, VIDEOS) | News

Hey! Power came back on at 4:15 this morning, but unfortunately my landline and internet did not. My carrier is based in Nova Scotia, so that may be why. I'm currently on my way to Charlottetown since the weather is much better. I am used to being isolated living out in the country, but not having tv, phone, or internet is a weird feeling. I just feel like I need to get out today and see the outside world. I'm noticing lots of downed trees and minor property damage on the way into town, but it looks as if things are getting back to normal.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

But the Balearia ferry crew was under the impression that passengers could enter the U.S. with just a passport and a copy of their police record, the documents required by the visa waiver program between the U.S. and the Bahamas, WSVN reports.

Under the program, Bahamian citizens can fly to the U.S. without a visa if they are pre-cleared in Nassau or Freeport, have a valid Bahamian passport, and have no criminal record.
The Reason Hundreds of Hurricane Dorian Survivors Were Turned Away From the U.S.

 

[imstilla.grandma]

Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) on Twitter