Bahamas braces for death toll to soar as Dorian cleanup begins
The death toll of 30 people was expected to soar in the Bahamas as rescue workers began to assess the devastation left behind by Hurricane Dorian, the country’s health minister said late Thursday.
Crews assembled to survey the damage have a daunting task of inspecting each home and collapsed structure scattered a 50-mile range of islands to locate the dead, Duane Ernest Lascelles Sands told NBC News.
“It is a horrendous challenge right now and the process of certification and confirmation certainly does not in any way relate to the findings in the field,” he said, adding that the findings suggest the death toll “will rise dramatically.”
Video taken by NBC News partner Telemundo in the town of Marsh Harbor, Great Abaco Island — one of the worst-hit areas — on Thursday showed workers in white protective suits and wearing face masks and rubber globes picked through the rubble looking for victims. They loaded body bags onto a flat-bed truck.
“The prime minister has attempted to prepare the public for the ultimate confirmation and the expectation that this has been a devastating storm and loss of life and property,” Sands told NBC News.
The slow-moving Category 5 hurricane hit the archipelago of nearly 400,000 people on Sunday, destroying as many as 13,000 homes, according to the International Committee of the Red Cross. Hundreds of volunteers have been distributing food aid and relief supplies such as hygiene items, jerrycans and hand-crank cell phone charges in the aftermath.
An aerial view of damage caused by Hurricane Dorian on Great Abaco Island on Wednesday.Scott Olson / Getty Images
Communities have been left unrecognizable, with some structures completely flattened while others still standing having endured its siding or roof torn off.
The Red Cross said more help will be needed in the form of shelter and health supplies, along with short-term economic support.
On the Abaco Islands, the storm not only decimated structures but raised concerns that extensive flooding has contaminated wells with seawater, creating an urgent need for clean water for survivors, the Red Cross has said.
Colin Sheeley contributed.
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