THE NUMBER OF people confirmed dead after Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas this week has risen to 43, with authorities warning this number is expected to rise “significantly” in the coming days. 

Health Minister Duane Sands confirmed the new death toll of 43, up from 30, according to US network CNN and Bahamas newspaper The Tribune.

“Forty-three is the official count, many missing and this number is expected to grow significantly,” Erica Wells Cox, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Hubert Minnis, told NBC News.

Authorities from across the Bahamian agencies also weighed in with updates. 

“Literally hundreds, up to thousands, of people are still missing,” Joy Jibrilu, the director general of the Bahamian tourism and aviation ministry, told CNN.

Thousands of people were left homeless on the islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco and many were becoming frustrated with the speed of relief and evacuation efforts.

“There’s no gas station, no food stores, my job is gone” said Melanie Lowe of Marsh Harbour, whose house was partially destroyed.

More than 260 residents from Abaco Island returned to its capital city of Nassau yesterday after spending more than seven hours on a government-chartered ferry, a second of which was expected to arrive overnight.

Residents were waiting to hear if their loved ones survived the storm with one local woman, Diane Forbes, who had not heard from her two sons since Tuesday, searching for them among evacuees sheltering at a local gym. 

According to UN relief officials, more than 70,000 people – almost the entire population of Grand Bahama and Abaco — are in need of assistance after the storm destroyed homes and livelihoods.

The US Coast Guard and private organizations have been evacuating residents of Abaco and other islands to Nassau.

The multinational relief effort, which also includes Britain’s Royal Navy and several non-governmental organizations, has been hampered by flood damage to airport runways, damaged piers and docks, and downed communications.

Tents and awnings installed at Nassau Airport, not far from where rescue planes were taking off and landing, acted as temporary housing.

United States

Dorian made landfall in the United States as a Category 1 hurricane packing winds of nearly 150km/hr.

The Miami-based National Hurricane Center said the storm made landfall at Cape Hatteras on North Carolina’s Outer Banks – the barrier islands off the coast.

Flooding was reported in the town of Ocracoke to the southwest of Cape Hatteras. 

Thousands of coastal residents of US states from Florida to Virginia had been fearing the worst but the east coast largely escaped unscathed.

“As you know, in the United States, we weren’t hit nearly as hard as was thought but the Bahamas, you got hit very, very hard,” US President Donald Trump said in a video statement on Twitter.

“On behalf of the United States and the people of the United States, we’re working hard, we’re with you and God bless you,” he said.

“Any cruise ship companies willing to act as stationary housing etc, I am sure would be appreciated,” he also tweeted.

The storm has now reached Nova Scotia in Canada but the brunt of the storm was felt in the Bahamas and the US. 

- © AFP 2019