Bahamas paradise lost after Dorian hurricane struck

Dorian is tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane for the highest sustained winds at landfall in an Atlantic hurricane; it also reached the strongest highest sustained winds among Atlantic hurricane since Wilma in 2005.

Tim Stelloh reported for NBC News: "The slow-moving Category 5 storm had [300 km/h] maximum sustained winds, gusts that topped [320 km/h] and a storm surge that reached nearly 7 m. The most powerful hurricane on record to strike the Bahamas, Dorian made a direct hit on the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama."

Ron Brackett developed the aftermath of the Hurricane Dorian in weather.com as of 09.09.2019: "A statement from the Royal Bahamas Police Force said 45 bodies have been recovered, 37 in Abaco Island and eight in Grand Bahama Island. 'The numbers are staggering just as the Minister of Health Dr. Duane Sands suggested last week. The government though continues to confirm the number to be a mere 43 confirmed victims in one of the deadliest disasters on record in the Bahamas."

"Bahamian officials have warned that the number of deaths is likely to rise as security forces and other teams search devastated areas of the northern Bahamas. 'The public needs to prepare for unimaginable information about the death toll and the human suffering,' Sands told local radio."

"On Monday, the Bahamas Press reported that observers on those two hardest hit islands say more than 3000 people could have died in the hurricane. That number is far much higher,' according to the newspaper, which is an outspoken critic of Prime Minister Hubert Minnis and his government. Reports from survivors also point to a much higher death toll."

"Hundreds of other residents desperate to escape the devastation left by Dorian lined up at airports and ports hoping for a way off the hardest hit islands. On Abaco Island, some people spent days at the Treasure Cay airport waiting to get a flight. About 30 miles to the south, more than 200 people sweltered under a baking sun at the the Marsh Harbour International Airport, pleading to be taken to New Providence, which is home to the capital city of Nassau."

"Hundreds more, many of them Haitian immigrants, waited at the port in hopes of leaving Abaco on vessels arriving with aid, the Associated Press reported. Bahamian security forces were organizing evacuations on a landing craft. Other boats, including yachts and other private craft, were also helping to evacuate people."

"On Grand Bahama, where Dorian stalled and scoured the island for 36 hours, scores of residents lined up at the international airport for a chance at leaving on one of the private charter flights bringing in relief supplies, the Guardian reported."

"Government officials said more than 900 members of the Bahamian police and military are on Abaco and Grand Bahama islands to help with hurricane relief. The government also says 120 Jamaican security personnel arrived on Saturday evening and 100 troops from Trinidad and Tobago arrive Sunday as part of the aid effort."

"The United Nations said 8 tons of food supplies were to arrive by ship on Saturday. This first supply shipment of UNICEF humanitarian items was freighted by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and included more than 400 000 water purification tablets, several 5000-liter tanks for at least 2000 people and 1000 jerry cans."