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Hurricane Dorian leaves 70K people homeless in Bahamas, U.N. says

Hurricane Dorian, aiming for Nova Scotia and Newfoundland on Saturday, has left 43 people dead and 70,000 people homeless in the Bahamas, according to the United Nations.

Thousands of homes were destroyed as Dorian — then a Category 5 hurricane — blasted northern parts of the archipelago this week.

Along the U.S. coasts only four deaths have been attributed to Dorian, all of them men in Florida or North Carolina who died in falls or by electrocution while trimming trees, putting up storm shutters or otherwise getting ready for the hurricane.

Marvin Dames, Bahama's Security Minister, says authorities were trying to reach thousands of stranded Bahamians. But crews couldn't just bulldoze their way through fallen trees and other rubble because of the likelihood of bodies still not recovered. 

The devastation was so widespread that rescue teams making their way to the hardest hit areas were only now beginning to get a glimpse of the severity of the destruction. 

 "We expect (the death toll) to rise," Health Minister Duane Sands said late Friday in a text message to The Associated Press.

U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said Friday that the storm has left 70,000 people homeless. Property losses in the Bahamas could hit $7 billion.

The Grand Celebration, a ship from Bahamas Paradise Cruise Lines that normally plies the Caribbean with tourists, was diverted to pick up evacuees, and brought more than 1,500 to Riviera Beach, Florida, on Saturday morning.

Teams from the U.N.’s World Health Organization were providing medicine, food and drinking water to survivors, according to Dujarric.

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A flooded shop is seen next to Rodanthe Sound as Hurricane Dorian hits Cape Hatteras in North Carolina on September 6, 2019. - The final death toll from Hurricane Dorian in the Bahamas could be

“Due to floodwaters and potential contamination with sewage, the risk of diarrheal and waterborne diseases is high,” the spokesperson said. “WHO will be working with the government to provide medical supplies and emergency physicians as needed.”

On Saturday morning, several hundred people, many of them Haitian immigrants, waited at hard-hit Abaco’s Marsh Harbour in hopes of leaving the disaster zone on vessels arriving with aid. Bahamian security forces organized evacuations on a landing craft. Other boats, including yachts and other private craft, were also helping to get people off the island.

Avery Parotti, a 19-year-old bartender, and partner Stephen Chidles, a 26-year-old gas station attendant had been waiting at the port since 1 a.m. Waves from lifted a yacht that smashed against a cement wall, which in turn collapsed on their home.

“There’s nothing left here. There are no jobs,” said Parotti, who hopes to start a new life in the United States, where she has relatives, the Associated Press reported.

On Grand Bahama, a long line formed at a cruise ship that had docked to distribute food and water. Among those waiting was Wellisy Taylor, a housewife.

“What we have to do as Bahamians, we have to band together. If your brother needs sugar, you’re going to have to give him sugar. If you need cream, they’ll have to give you cream,”

On Saturday morning, several hundred people, many of them Haitian immigrants, waited at Abaco’s Marsh Harbour in hopes of leaving the disaster zone on vessels arriving with aid. Bahamian security forces were organizing evacuations on a landing craft. Other boats, including yachts and other private craft, were also helping to evacuate people.

Avery Parotti, a 19-year-old bartender, and partner Stephen Chidles, a 26-year-old gas station attendant had been waiting at the port since 1 a.m. During the hurricane, waves lifted a yacht that smashed against a cement wall, which in turn collapsed on their home and destroyed it.

“There’s nothing left here. There are no jobs,” said Parotti, who hopes to start a new life in the United States, where she has relatives.

On Grand Bahama, Wellisy Taylor, a housewife. was among those in a long line formed at a cruise ship that had docked to distribute food and water.

“What we have to do as Bahamians, we have to band together. If your brother needs sugar, you’re going to have to give him sugar. If you need cream, they’ll have to give you cream,” Taylor. said  “That’s how I grew up. That’s the Bahamas that I know.”

In Melbourne, Florida, roughly 75 volunteers converged on Orlando-melbourne Saturday morning to sort supplies to be taken to the hurricane-ravaged Bahamas.

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In this image courtesy of US Customs and Border Protection (USCBP), USCBP agents deliver food and water to severely damaged Fox Town on the Abaco Islands in the Bahamas, on September 6, 2019, in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. - The death toll from Hurricane Dorian's devastating rampage across the Bahamas rose to 43 and was likely to climb

A morning flight was taking 5,000 pounds of supplies with several more to follow, heading to Sandy Pointe, one to Treasure Cay and one to Marsh Harbor.

Saturday evening, Dorian was making its way across Nova Scotia with 100 mph winds, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without power in eastern Canada.

The National Hurricane Center said at 11 p.m. EST that the storm was about 60 miles south of the Madgalen Islands, with maximum sustained winds of 90 mph and moving north-northeast at 26 mph.

In Halifax, Dorian's winds toppled a crane that crashed into the side of a downtown apartment building under construction. Authorities reported no deaths or serious injuries. 

While a hurricane warning was in effect for eastern Nova Scotia and western Newfoundland, residents and rescue teams were beginning to tally the casualties and damage left behind along the U.S. coast and in the Bahamas.

On Ocracoke Island, in North Carolina's the Outer Banks, about 800 people rode out the storm, according to Gov. Roy Cooper. Dorian sent seawater surging over neighborhoods, flooding the first floors of many homes.

“There is significant concern about hundreds of people trapped on Ocracoke Island,” Cooper said.

The U.S. Coast Guard began bringing local law enforcement officers to the island Friday via helicopter and airlifting out the sick, elderly and others in distress, Hyde County authorities said. National Guard helicopters also flew in supplies and a rescue team.

By Friday evening, the governor said that officials were aware of no serious injuries on the Outer Banks from the storm. People in need of temporary housing were being taken to a shelter on the mainland, the governor said.