Watch: Dorian survivor recalls the moment the hurricane struck his house

Nassau: A survivor of Hurricane Dorian has revealed how scared he was when it battered his home.

Charles Cornish, a Bahamian resident who lives near Spring City in Marsh Harbour, where the worst of the hurricane was felt, was talking to the UN Organisation for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, who had set up a temporary relief camp at the nearby airport.

Charles and hundreds of other Bahamians were evacuated there once the worst of Hurricane Dorian had passed.

“At one point, in my house, it felt like Bigfoot was on the roof, trying to break in through the roof,” said Charles, as he described the bone-chilling moment when Hurrican Dorian’s fury was felt on the tiny island. “It’s really heart-breaking to see what I experienced and saw in Marsh Harbour. Never, not even with Hurricane Floyd in 1999, we had this kind of stuff.

“Right now, there are so many people out there that they can’t find. That place is no place to be right now,” he added.

The United Nations OCHA and other international relief organisations are attempting to aid the government of the Bahamas in rebuilding those areas of the island that have been shattered by Dorian, which has left a catastrophic trail of destruction in its wake. As of September 7, according to OCHA, 43 people in the Bahamas have lost their lives due to the hurricane.
Bahamas’ Abaco Islands are the most severely affected by Hurricane Dorian, which has razed thousands of homes to rubble and has felled communications towers across major parts of the area. Roads have been severely damaged, with little electricity, water and sanitation to speak of.

Commenting on the conditions on the ground after Dorian, Rein Paulsen, the head of UNOCHA in the Americas said, “The physical destruction is massive. It’s encouraging however to see the way that some people, residents are finding quick solutions to respond themselves, but they need quick support. There is an urgent need for critical life-saving supplies, food, water, and sanitary and hygiene packs.

“The UN has deployed emergency medical teams in government infrastructure to meet trauma needs and respond urgently to people. The government has established a number of areas of work: food, logistics, health, water and sanitation, and the UN has embedded lead experts in these areas. We are delivering assistance in coordination with the government through those channels.”

The UN has called for donations to aid those who require assistance and immediate relief in the Bahamas, and has set up online portals for people to contribute whatever they are able to, to chip in towards the ongoing humanitarian relief efforts.

On 8 September, soon after Hurricane Dorian had cloven its destructive path through the Bahamas, UNICEF Latin America sent a plane carrying 1.5 tonnes of relief material to the islands, enabling them to provide access to safe drinking water for over 9,500 children and families.

Hanoch Barlevi, a programme specialist of the Regional Emergency and Climate/Disaster Risk department at UNICEF Latin America, said, “We came here to join the team to do the first assessment to see what is the impact and the destruction that was left behind by this hurricane. We can see all around us, total destruction.

“We visited a school that is totally destroyed, so we are talking about 3,000 children that were impacted by the effects of this hurricane,” he added. “We are working now with the government to see how best to address their immediate needs.”