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Bahamas after hurricane "Dorian": The extent of destruction

2019-09-05T00:01:41.820Z


Gradually, helpers in the Bahamas are invading areas where hurricane "Dorian" has wreaked havoc. The death toll is increasing. According to the UN, 70,000 people urgently need help.



After the devastating hurricane "Dorian", around 70,000 people in the northern islands of the Bahamas need immediate help. In the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama, it had come to "enormous devastation," said UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Marc Lowcock on a short visit to the Bahamas. According to initial inventories, the population urgently needs food, clean drinking water and shelters.

So far, the islands are only accessible by helicopter, because the airports are flooded or damaged. Also connecting roads on the islands could not be used.

The Bahamas are a relatively wealthy island nation, but given the scale of the disaster - which affects nearly a fifth of the population - also outside help is needed, said Lowcock. The United Nations has provided emergency aid of one million dollars, which is the equivalent of about 900,000 euros.

Video: Aerial photographs show devastation

Video

ADAM STANTON / US COAST GUARD HANDOUT / EPA-EFE / REX

Parts of the islands are still cut off from the outside world, there is no power supply and only very limited communication options. Lowcock said it was feared that the death toll would "increase significantly".

The government last spoke of 20 dead. The search and rescue operations on the affected islands had just begun, said Health Minister Duane Sands.

"Dorian" had hit the Bahamas as the hurricane of the highest category and had long remained over the northern islands. For the Bahamas, it was the strongest hurricane since the beginning of modern records. Now that he has left the island nation, the extent of the destruction gradually becomes clear.

Aerial photographs on the northern island of Great Abaco showed vast, devastated, submerged tracts of land, buildings and buildings in ruins. Little by little, helpers moved to the affected areas there and to Grand Bahama.

photo gallery


6 pictures

Hurricane "Dorian" in the Bahamas: "Catastrophic Destruction"

US President Donald Trump assured the Bahamas government "all reasonable help" from the US. Trump also expressed his condolences in a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Hubert Minnis for the victims and the "catastrophic destruction" caused by the cyclone, the White House said Wednesday night. Trump and Minnis wanted to stay in touch to ensure the most efficient assistance from the US.

The US Coast Guard is already deployed with eight helicopters on the islands southeast of the US state of Florida. The Red Cross and other helpers also began operations after the hurricane hit Florida on Tuesday night.

Source: spiegel

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