Face of Nation : More than a week after Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas, thousands of people are without shelter and food, 2,500 are still missing, and Bahamas prime minister says he expects the death toll of 50 to “significantly increase.” Some 15,000 people are still in need of shelter or food, according to the Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency.
Officials also note that the list of 2,500 missing hasn’t been checked against records of evacuees or the thousands of people staying in shelters, making it difficult to draw up casualty lists. The official death toll stands at 50.
“The number of deaths is expected to significantly increase,” Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said Wednesday night in a nationwide address, promising “timely information on the loss of life as it is available.”
Thousands are scattered across the islands, with more than 5,000 people ending up on New Providence, the island where Nassau, the capital, is located. Authorities plan to put up tent cities in Nassau and as well as on Abaco, one of the hardest hit islands, where shelter for some 4,000 is planned.
Hurricane Dorian struck parts of the archipelago with 185 mph winds on Sept. 1, then settled in for almost two days of death and destruction before moving back into the Atlantic.
As the country tries to emerge from the devastating storm, limited commercial flights have resumed on Abaco, but the electrical infrastructure around Marsh Harbour, the island’s largest city, has been destroyed.
