Crew said people without visas must disembark ferry to Florida because of CBP’s ‘last-minute call’ that they would not be admitted
More than a hundred Bahamian citizens desperate to escape the devastation of Hurricane Dorian were ordered off a ferry to Florida, sparking a dispute between US immigration officials and the operator of the vessel.
Related: Search for survivors of Hurricane Dorian continues in Bahamas
Continue reading...The government of the Bahamas has sent 900 police and military personnel to the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama hardest hit by Hurricane Dorian, while taking action to stave off any profiteering by private sector rescue missions amid signs of chaos in some of the aid operations.
The destruction caused by the hurricane was still unfolding as a humanitarian and environmental disaster a week after it landed in the northern reaches of the Bahamas as a category 5 tempest.
Continue reading...Rescuers battle to reach devastated communities as cruise ships arrive with supplies and volunteers
Rescue teams are still struggling to reach some flood-hit Bahamian communities in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian as top officials said the death toll had risen to 43, while it is feared hundreds, perhaps thousands, remain missing.
Government agencies and charities continued to bring desperately needed relief efforts to the Bahamas, including cruise ships loaded with supplies and volunteers.
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We’re logging off here, but our reporters in the Bahamas and North Carolina will continue our Dorian coverage this weekend. Here’s a wrap up of everything that happened today:
Fears are growing that damage to a major oil storage terminal on the shore of Grand Bahama Island could cause oil to leak into the ocean, potentially damaging reefs and wildlife off the coast.
Absolutely CATASTROPHIC #oilspill in #GrandBahama from #HurricaneDorian at the #Statoil / @Equinor facility. Teams need to be here TODAY to a) prevent a fire from starting (oil across the highway where people are trying to help) b) stop any/all spillage to ocean and c) clean up pic.twitter.com/8u3e2BDYdY
Continue reading...Lashing rain, 185mph winds – the ferocious storm has left 43 dead and hundreds missing. Oliver Laughland reports from the rubble of Grand Bahama
As Erica Roberts clung to a tall mango tree, the winds and sea water churned up by Hurricane Dorian pounding her face, a single thought ran through her head: “I will not die like this.”
Related: 'I thought no one was coming to rescue us': Abaco Islanders flee Dorian's destruction
Continue reading...After hammering the Bahamas and leaving at least 30 dead, Hurricane Dorian began raking the south-east US seaboard, with the eye hitting the North Carolina coast on Thursday evening.
The threat to the US remains real but in the Bahamas the storm has left such terrible devastation that the authorities were still struggling to get aid to stricken areas and the death toll is expected to rise, perhaps steeply.
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Sarah St George, chairman of the Grand Bahama Port Authority, told the Guardian that the “force and size” of Dorian took everyone by surprise, a situation made worse by the hurricane stalling over the archipelago.
“Grand Bahama is not in good shape at all because 70% of it was under water,” St George said. “On the north side of the island the water was coming up to the second floor of their houses. My assistant Tammy was on the roof of her house for 30 hours hanging on to a coconut tree with her 8-year-old daughter Ariana. Her grandmother lost her grip and slipped off the roof and drowned. There was no way of getting to them. They’ve lost everything.”
In the president’s continuing battle against his own incorrect statement that Alabama was under threat from Hurricane Dorian, which has left at least 23 people dead, he has just now been tweeting what he claims is evidence he knew what he was talking about.
It is not.
Just as I said, Alabama was originally projected to be hit. The Fake News denies it! pic.twitter.com/elJ7ROfm2p
I was with you all the way Alabama. The Fake News Media was not! https://t.co/gO5pwahaj9
Over the weekend, projections for #HurricaneDorian have continually skewed further north and east, leaving Alabama outside the anticipated path. While we are thankful for that, we remain #AlwaysReady to help our sister states. #OneTeamOneFight #OneGuard pic.twitter.com/7TbFKpd2Zh
Continue reading...Hurricane Dorian destroyed most property on the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas, forcing residents to leave everything behind
Kathlyn Russell collapsed on the concrete, tears streaming, as she embraced the daughter she feared she would never see again.
Related: Hurricane Dorian: 'generational devastation' in Bahamas, says PM
Continue reading...Officials expect the number of dead will continue to rise as large parts of some islands remain inaccessible to rescue crews
The official death toll of Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas has risen to 20 people with officials certain the number will continue to rise, the prime minister, Hubert Minnis, announced as he declared a “historic tragedy” on the archipelago.
At a press conference late on Wednesday the prime minister also warned of reports of looting on the Abaco Islands, a northern band of islands in the Bahamas hardest hit by Dorian, which pummelled the area as a slow moving category 5 hurricane over the weekend.
Continue reading...The monster storm is expected to bring intense rainfall and flooding after causing devastation in the Bahamas
A handy guide from the Federal Emergency Management Agency on dealing with the storm:
If you're sheltering from #Dorian & the power goes out:
Unplug appliances & electronics to avoid damage from electrical surges
❄ Keep the refrigerator & freezer closed so food lasts longer
⚠ Only use generators outside, away from windows
Tips: https://t.co/xGiYRfN5oB pic.twitter.com/fFbx1CeF3o
Approximately 396,000 residents are under mandatory evacuation orders, according to North Carolina’s joint information center spokeswoman Laura Leonard.
On Monday Henry McMaster, the governor of South Carolina, ordered 830,000 to leave areas likely to be effected by the storm. Charleston was among the mandatory evacuation zones, along with parts of counties to the north.
Continue reading...Video shows the scale of catastrophe as the storm continues to move away from the Bahamas and towards Florida
Kari Paul logging off for the evening. Please stay tuned tomorrow for more updates as Dorian reaches the US coast and the picture of effects on the Bahamas become clearer.
Here are the latest updates from this afternoon:
The death toll for Hurricane Dorian climbed to seven, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said on Tuesday night, according to CNN. The death toll, which was at five earlier in the day, has been expected to climb as survivors of the natural disaster face ongoing food and medicine shortages.
Continue reading...Thousands left without shelter and likely to face food and water shortages, say UN, US and local authorities
US officials and counterparts around the world sent out an urgent call for help for the Bahamas after the northernmost islands in the archipelago were pulverized by Hurricane Dorian.
Thousands of residents of Grand Bahama and Abaco islands are without shelter, stranded by flooding and are likely to suffer shortages of food, water and medicine that will worsen without quick action by the international community, according to coordinated messages from the United Nations, the US state department, the US embassy in Nassau and local officials.
Continue reading...Images show the extent of flooding in cities including Nassau due to the hurricane, which has left at least 30 dead
Continue reading...Dorian stalls over Grand Bahama, bringing high winds, torrential rain and storm surges
Hurricane Dorian has stalled over the Bahamas, lashing the islands with wind, rain and storm surges, and killing at least five people.
Thousands of homes were inundated by floodwater as rescue operations tried to reach stranded residents, many trapped on roofs.
Continue reading...Las Vegas is the fastest warming city in the United States. The city’s poorest residents are most at risk in the heat
The Clark county death investigator Jill Roberts vividly recalls the sunny 115F (46C) afternoon last summer when she entered a Las Vegas home with no functional air conditioning. The indoor heat felt even worse than the broiling temperature outside. She climbed up the stairs, through thick, stifling air, landing in a third-story bedroom where the resident had died in sweltering conditions. The room had no fan and the door was shut. It felt as if it couldn’t get any hotter.
“Our elements are unforgiving. Especially on those 115F days, it doesn’t take a lot,” Roberts told the Guardian. “In that situation I’ll go stand in the sun in the 115F heat to do my paperwork as opposed to staying in the house because it’s that hot.”
Continue reading...Hurricane Dorian has pummelled the Bahamas with winds of over 180mph, unleashing massive flooding. Hubert Minnis, the prime minister of the Bahamas, said his country is 'in the midst of a historic tragedy' as at least five people were reported dead. The American Red Cross, which is already at standby in the Bahamas, is also preparing to shelter up to 60,000 Americans as the storm edges closer to the US.
Continue reading...The storm has been downgraded to category 2, but is expected to remain ‘powerful’ with winds of up to 105mph
Hurricane Dorian was slowly moving up the United States’ south-eastern coast on Wednesday, after pummeling the Bahamas with deadly force.
Related: 'Pray for us': Bahamas residents tell of terror as Hurricane Dorian hit
Continue reading...Bahamians say storm has left devastation, with buildings destroyed and bodies floating
• Hurricane Dorian hits Bahamas – live updates
Residents of the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama have described “nightmarish” scenes as the full force of Hurricane Dorian struck the northernmost part of the Bahamas.
As the first person to have died in the storm was reported to be seven-year-old Lachino Mcintosh, who drowned after his family tried to move from their home, witnesses described large-scale flooding and damage as 185mph (300km/h) winds ripped roofs from buildings.
Continue reading...Reports an eight-year-old boy has been killed after Dorian made landfall at Great Abaco Island on Sunday
Despite its downgrade, Dorian is still a powerful hurricane and will remain so in the coming days. There’s not much difference between an intense category 4 and a low-end category 5.
Friendly reminder: There is little difference in impact between a #hurricane at the top end of Cat 4 and "low end" of Cat 5. Grand Bahama Island would certainly vouch for that right now. #Dorian pic.twitter.com/g93aDrp02T
Disastrous flooding from the Bahamas - lady who posted this video said: “#HurricaneDorian this was taken in a home by the canal my aunty live by the canal yall I scared” pic.twitter.com/EEZHE3GeCx
Queens Cove Grand Bahamas #Dorian pic.twitter.com/yDhBwoiy3k
NEW: The Hurricane Warning along the east coast of Florida has been extended northward to the Flagler/Volusia County Line. The Hurricane Watch has been extended northward to Altamaha Sound, Georgia. Full advisory on #Dorian is at: https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/at3bCDs6OQ
The National Hurricane Center expects the hurricane to gradually weaken and has reclassified from a category 5 to a category 4. Maximum winds are at 155 miles per hour, with higher gusts.
Continue reading...Power outages and flooding were reported in the Virgin Islands and the Puerto Rican islands, but no damages
Hurricane Dorian caused limited damage in the northern Caribbean as it left the region and gathered strength late Wednesday, setting its sights on the US mainland as it threatened to grow into a Category 3 storm.
Puerto Rico, which had braced for the worst, seemed to be spared any heavy wind and rain, a huge relief to many on an island where blue tarps still cover some 30,000 homes nearly two years after Hurricane Maria. The island’s 3.2 million inhabitants also depend on an unstable power grid that remains prone to outages since it was destroyed by Maria.
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