It has been nearly two weeks since Hurricane Dorian devastated parts of The Bahamas. While most of the islands were thankfully spared, the Abacos and Grand Bahamas were not so lucky.
Parts of the Bahamas were hit with a Category 5 storm, the strongest record hurricane to ever make landfall on the nation. The storm was particularly bad as it stalled over the island for nearly two days, leaving behind a wake of destruction. Thousands of homes have been destroyed, and refugees on the Abacos and Grand Bahamas are still trying to get to safety.
The aftermath of the storm is still revealing itself. There are about 2,500 people who have been reported missing the Bahamas since Hurricane Dorian. So far there have been 50 people reported dead, but that number is expected to rise as authorities comb through wreckage.
“No living Bahamian has ever seen anything like this in their lifetime,” the Bahamian prime minister, Hubert Minnis, said. “But as horrible and vicious as Hurricane Dorian was, the bravery and resilience of the Bahamian people is even more powerful.”
The Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency announced on Facebook that there were more than 2,500 people unaccounted for. However, officials stressed that names on that list have not been checked against the official list of people still in shelters or who have evacuated. That list of missing people is expected to dwindle over the next few days, but Minnis stated that the number of deaths was expected to “significantly increase” in the coming weeks.
Relief efforts are still being undergone in the Bahamas. Worldwide support has been pouring in to help the nation. However, relief aid may be hampered by a coming tropical disturbance that could bring heavy rainfall this weekend and into early next week.