FREEPORT, BAHAMAS (APTN/CBS/WBTW) – Aerial footage showed scenes of utter ruin in parts of the Bahamas Tuesday in the wake of Hurricane Dorian, the most powerful storm on record ever to hit the islands.
At least five deaths were reported, with the full scope of the disaster still unknown.
The storm’s punishing winds and muddy brown floodwaters destroyed or severely damaged thousands of homes, crippled hospitals and trapped people in attics.
The storm’s relentless winds and rain battered the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama, which have a combined population of about 70,000.
Lia Head-Rigby, representative of hurricane relief NGO The Bahamian Project, said affected communities would need a “full rebuild.”
“(I am) just overwhelmed with sadness of the fact that it looks like 90% of the homes are gone. I may have counted 50 roofs (still in place), maybe,” Rigby said. “And (I) did hear there was more, quite a few more deaths than initially said. So it’s going to be a long road and there is nothing to go in and patch up. It has to be a full rebuild of those communities.”
A Red Cross spokesman said more than 13,000 houses, or about 45% of the homes in Grand Bahama and Abaco, were believed to have been severely damaged or destroyed.
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