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VOLUME:116 No.177, SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2019
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PEOPLE wait to be evacuated from Treasure Cay airport in Abaco.
Thousands evacuated as NEMA insists it’s doing the best it can By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net A SPOKESMAN for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has defended the organisation against criticisms of its response to Hurricane Dorian, insisting that officials are pleased with their efforts so far. Last night, NEMA said that 3,500 people have been evacuated to New Providence from Abaco and Grand Bahama - although that number does not include people evacuated by private groups. NEMA spokesman Carl Smith said yesterday while there were several challenges that hampered the response, situations improved as
essential services also improved; the expectation was for more improvements in coming weeks. Former Attorney General Alfred Sears was among those criticising the response. He said that there has been a collapse of critical functions of the state in the aftermath of the hurricane, and insisted that a complete overhaul of the country’s disaster preparedness plan is needed. He said the existing plan failed to be adequate enough to respond in the time of need. As a result, Mr Sears said there has been a delay in evacuations and some bodies of the dead remain uncollected. SEE PAGE FOUR HOLDING hands, this family was among hundreds of Hurricane Dorian survivors gathered at Treasure Cay airport in Abaco.
• Minnis plane in near midair disaster • Stranded in East End wreckage • Oil company moves to tackle Grand Bahama spill
• Donations and aid pour in to help families • Evacuees’ ordeal before and after • Private rescue teams play key role
Nassau & Bahama Islands’ Leading Newspaper
PAGE 2, Monday, September 9, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
HURRICANE Dorian survivors at Treasure Cay International Airport. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
A CHILD among the Hurricane Dorian survivors at Treasure Cay International Airport.
ABACO residents at Marsh Harbour International Airport hoping to evacuate the island.
PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis at Treasure Cay International Airport speaking to Abaco residents.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, September 9, 2019, PAGE 3
TWO Hurricane Dorian survivors at Treasure Cay International Airport as they seek to evacuate the island.
Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
NEMA evacuates 3,500 By KHRISNA RUSSELL Deputy Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net MORE than 3,000 people have been evacuated to New Providence in the wake of Hurricane Dorian. According to National Emergency Management Agency spokesman Carl Smith yesterday, 3,500 people have come to the capital from Abaco and Grand Bahama, but only 860 persons have needed to be housed in approved shelters. There have been a number of other evacuations carried out by civil society. Officials have also worked on short and longterm plans to accommodate evacuees. John Michel Clarke, chairman of the Disaster Relief and Reconstruction Committee, said a temporary relief facility with a capacity to hold 4,000 is also in the works. As it stands, 422 people are being housed in the Kendal Isaacs Gym; 202 at the Fox Hill community shelter; 91 at Calvary Baptist shelter; 50 in the Salvation Army and 95 at Pilgrim Baptist Temple on St James Road. Another shelter was opened
NEAR MISS FOR PM’S PLANE A BAHAMASAIR aircraft carrying Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis had to make a sudden drop in altitude while en route to Abaco to avoid a mid-air collision. The Prime Minister was headed to Abaco on Friday to assess hurricane recovery and relief efforts on that island. Prime Minister Minnis was accompanied by CARICOM chairman and St Lucia Prime Minister Allen Chastanet; Turks and Caicos Premier Sharlene Cartwright-Robinson; CARICOM secretary general Ambassador Irwin LaRoque; CDEMA (Caribbean Disaster Emergency Management Agency) executive director Ronald Jackson and other officials. The pilot explained the drop in altitude yesterday morning in Adelaide. However, the number of people there was not provided yesterday. Mr Smith said yesterday there was no mandatory evacuation for Abaco. He further warned that the Department of Civil Aviation would revoke authorisation of any air carrier charging passengers for evacuation flights. Last week, Bahamasair had charged a $75 one-way fee to evacuate Abaco. Officials have since discontinued this
over the aircraft’s intercom was due to the Bahamasair aircraft having to avoid another aircraft that refused to respond. “We were all very fortunate that nothing more serious happened but this is a good example of why temporary air restrictions were put in place to allow only emergency and relief flights in the Abaco and Grand Bahama areas,” said Prime Minister Minnis. The Bahamas Civil Aviation Authority has restricted air space over Grand Bahama and the Abacos. Only aircraft providing emergency and humanitarian relief authorised by Civil Aviation are permitted to fly in the restricted airspace. More than 200 planes have already been authorised by BCCA.
fee, adding anyone who paid it should be refunded. “The plan moving forward, we discussed immediately we want to create a temporary relief facility in Abaco in two locations and the thought behind the temporary relief facility is that it is built to accommodate between 4,000 persons,” Mr Clarke said during a NEMA press conference yesterday. “The way that that facility will be designed will be for temporary relief in the
short-term. “As a staging area, in the mid-term for the reconstruction effort and as for a permanent development in the long-term so that we’re not bothered about spending money twice. “So what we want to do is we want to make sure that we get the planning for that effort absolutely correct.” Mr Smith also announced how officials planned to commence clean up efforts in Abaco. “NEMA and its partners
have not commenced any large scale debris cleaning in Abaco. Search and recovery is still being conducted particularly in Marsh Harbour. We are aware of rumours about bulldozing in The Mudd. These are false reports. “NEMA has directed a 50-member team from the Unites States Agency for International Development and the Office of Foreign US Disaster Assistance to work with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force to do a systematic sweep of the island. “The island has been put into a system and the recovery team will check each section for persons who are still alive, any bodies that need to be recovered, and to check for hazardous material. “Only after each section is cleared will NEMA and its partners move to the next phase of operations, which includes debris removal and I want to indicate here that where diseased bodies are discovered they have been handled in a most respectful manner properly and professionally handled.” Officials said yesterday that the official death toll remains at 43. However, a statement by the Royal Bahamas Police
"Remember, patience and leaving home at least 30 to 45 minutes earlier than you did during the summer will get you through this week's back-to-school drive." We pray for our nations recovery.
FROM left, chief operating officer of Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit Viana Gardiner; USAID administrator Mark Green; Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis; Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd; and US Embassy Charge d’Affaires Stephanie Bowers. Photo: Patrick Hanna/BIS
MINNIS THANKS TRUMP AND USAID TEAM PRIME Minister Dr Hubert Minnis met with USAID officials yesterday to solidify how the organisation can best support Hurricane Dorian relief and recovery efforts in The Bahamas. A USAID (United States Agency for International Development) Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) is on the ground in The Bahamas to lead the US government’s humanitarian response to the Category 5 storm that devastated parts of Abaco and Grand Bahama. Prime Minister Minnis thanked the agency for its support and assistance. “President Donald Trump has been a true friend to The Bahamas,” said Prime Minister Minnis. “He has authorised a full and complete response from the Government of the United States. President Trump’s assistance has helped save lives through the emergency airlift from
the Coast Guard and other agencies of the United States. I thank President Trump and the government and people of the United States of America.” Mark Green, USAID administrator, told Prime Minister Minnis that he looked forward to working closely with the Government of The Bahamas to provide assistance to the residents affected by Hurricane Dorian. “We commend your leadership and are committed to standing with and helping you during these challenging times,” Mr Green told Prime Minister Minnis. “This is your response and your country and we look forward to working with you.” The USAID team is led by Tim Callaghan of the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance/USAID, a senior regional advisor for Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mr Callaghan worked on recovery efforts in Dominica, which was decimated by Hurricane Maria in 2017, and on St Martin also in 2017 following Hurricane Irma. The Prime Minister said the Government is committed to cutting the red tape that slows down the relief process. He noted that among the most immediate needs are temporary housing facilities for residents who have lost their homes. A USAID 50-member team is assisting the Royal Bahamas Police and Defence forces with search and recovery efforts on Abaco. Its shelter specialists are also assessing the communities of Marsh Harbour and Treasure Cay to identify appropriate sites. Education Minister Jeffrey Lloyd and US Chargé d’Affaires Stephanie Bowers and other USAID officials attended the meeting.
Force later said that 45 bodies have been located - 37 in Abaco and eight in Grand Bahama. “We anticipate the discovery of more bodies as the process of search and recovery progresses,” the RBPF said. The statement added: “There are many more persons presumed missing and we are appealing to the public to file Missing Persons reports, with the police, of those persons who have not been seen since the passage of Hurricane Dorian. “We offer condolences to those families who have had loved ones die during the storm. And every effort is being made along with our local and international law enforcement partners to bring closure.” Health officials have also urged residents of Abaco, Grand Bahama and surrounding cays not to drink or consume ground water due to the potential of contamination. Residents are asked to use clean bottled water for drinking, food preparation or hygiene purposes. • Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis is reportedly to address the nation tonight.
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PAGE 4, Monday, September 9, 2019
HURRICANE survivors at Treasure Cay airport trying to evacuate from the island.
THE TRIBUNE
Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
Thousands evacuated as NEMA from page one But at the centre of it is the lack of adequate preparedness, Mr Sears said. International media reports as well as those on the ground in the affected islands have criticised the government’s response saying not only was relief slow but insufficient in some quarters, there were also concerns of residents that Bahamians officials were not promptly visible in all affected areas. In the immediate aftermath of the storm, there were also complaints from some in Abaco and Grand Bahama that more food and water was needed in remote areas. For Mr Sears, what took place after Hurricane Dorian pummeled Abaco and Grand Bahama carries personal significance. “I have had to be involved in the evacuation of my niece and her four children and my brother and his wife and his three children,” Mr Sears told this newspaper. “There has been a collapse of certain critical functions of the Bahamian state, the government, because under international humanitarian practices after any disaster, the first order of business is to deploy all of the national assets to evacuate people out of a condition of disaster and to use the national assets, that is our national airline. “Every mail boat operating in The Bahamas is subsidised by the Bahamian government so all of the mail boats should have been impressed by the government to immediately evacuate people out of Abaco and out of Grand Bahama. That is those who wanted to leave.
A BOY watches on as hundreds of Hurricane Dorian survivors gather at Treasure Cay International Airport. “We’ve seen up to seven rely on private charters, identities, the contact of the victims in a timely days and even now the people in Abaco and this is the family members they manner to alleviate their president of the BUT has what is so heart wrenching, were going, their contacts, misfortune.” put out an appeal for teach- people have had to rely of because we are now faced The government has said ers in Fox Town, Abaco private charters and volun- with a situation where we it is maintaining a database and we have bodies under teer sea craft and airplanes have tons of relief supplies of evacuees, but Mr Sears’ buildings and in the water to evacuate out of what is a coming in and persons for point was that not all evacubecause you have people disaster area and I think in whom they were intended ees have been accounted still on the ground to be that regard there has been are scattered in the United for as some have left the evacuated and you have not a complete collapse of the States, in New Providence affected islands privately. had a systematic rescue and state. and on other islands and He said evidence of recovery effort as yet. “Government agents there is no database where government’s poor pre“So what we have seen should have been at all of we can ensure in a quick paredness was seen in the is that in the collapse of the ports in Eleuthera, in timely manner that the call for personal waterthe government’s quick New Providence, in Grand generosity of the civil soci- craft as flooding impacted response using its assets Bahama processing the ety and the international many and prevented rescue to evacuate, we’ve had to evacuees in terms of their community will reach efforts.
TWO of the survivors of Hurricane Dorian among hundreds at Treasure Cay International Airport trying to evacuate the island.
“I would not say that the government did not have a plan in place, the plan was not adequate because in the middle of the hurricane we see some of the big trucks that had been assembled as rescue vehicles flooded. “In other words the emergency organisers were calling for jet skis and life vests. Clearly then we know we are dealing with water and tidal surges and so on. Was there an adequate supply of jet skis and watercraft since we knew and it
VOLUNTEERS at NPCC organising and packing donated goods for Hurricane Relief. Photo: Donavan McIntosh
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, September 9, 2019, PAGE 5
A MAN waits to evacuate from Treasure Cay airport as, below, relief supplies are stacked up. Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
A YOUNG boy among those waiting to evacuate Treasure Cay airport.
insists it’s doing the best it can
SOME of the damage in Abaco. was projected there would be tidal waves and surges?” When asked about these kinds of complaints during a press conference yesterday, Mr Smith defended NEMA’s efforts in the wake of Dorian. He said: “I am satisfied that NEMA with its partners is doing everything it can to move as effectively and as efficiently as it can given the circumstance. We are dealing with a disaster and I want to underscore that NEMA is the coordinating agency. We want to impress upon the public that they should channel their desire to provide support to NEMA so that they know what’s going on. But based on the information that we have and the systems that we have to put in place so that the situation does not deteriorate beyond what it is, we are satisfied that we’re doing what it is as best we can. “We have coming on board additional partners with expertise so you will see an improvement in the situation as we move forward. But as we speak we doing the best we can with what we have.” He said several challenges affected NEMA’s work following Dorian’s passage. “As you would have known, this is the first time that this region has experienced a situation such as this and we the government would have had on Abaco and on Grand Bahama as an example, public officers they themselves were affected. “You would be aware that we could not get persons to replace them because the ports were down, both the seaports and the airports were down and communication. “So as soon as those things were up, we were able to replace them and supplement the services that they were providing so there was an ongoing improvement in what was happening as communication was brought on as the airports were opened things were improved.” John Michel Clarke, chairman of the Disaster Relief and Reconstruction Committee, was asked about one complaint of a lack of drinking water at Rand Memorial Hospital in Grand Bahama. He said he was not aware of this claim, but said the challenges were great in Grand Bahama. He said: “On the ground
one of the challenges we had in Grand Bahama was that there was a serious breach of the roads along the eastern end of the island. That was compounded by an oil spill incident. We have moved resources to the eastern end of the island to repair the breach. “What that effectively did, was that it cut off the eastern end of the island from receiving supplies and we had to ferry and airlift supplies and that invariably caused some delay.” Previously, he said, officials were exploring every option, whether it was helicopter or boat, to bring constant relief to the affected areas. In a statement last night, hospital administrator Shirley Williams responded to a Whatsapp video being circulated concerning a problem with availability of drinking water for patients and staff in Grand Bahama. She said: “Up to this point, we have experienced no difficulty with providing water to patients and staff. “In fact, prior to leaving last evening (Saturday), areas and persons were provided with a case each of water as several donations were made for the day. “We think that this may have been started by a number of persons under the tent outside Emergency Room. Today this Outpatients care point which is usually manned by nurses and doctors was not staffed for services today (Sunday). These persons were provided water once a request was made. “We are aware of no other gaps and will maintain vigilance on this point in the future.” Moving forward, Mr Sears said a proper
THE DAMAGE inside one of the buildings in Abaco. investigation is needed so the country could overhaul its emergency regime. “We also need to look at how we designate shelters,” Mr Sears said. “We have to move away from using huge buildings that is a church without ensuring the structural integrity of these buildings because they are not built for shelter. They don’t have the structural certification. “Clearly the severity of this hurricane was unanticipated, but certainly even for hurricanes of lesser severity it is not unusual to see shelters that have been compromised. “So we have to review our building code. We have to review the criteria that we use to designate a facility as a shelter and we have to begin more systematically to better apply the public infrastructure.” He said schools should now be designed for the purpose of hurricane shelters and equip them with backup generators. There must also be a collaborative effort to offer counseling for those who have experienced mental trauma and grief due to hurricanes, Mr Sears said.
VOLUNTEERS at NPCC organising and packing donated goods for Hurricane Relief. Photo: Donavan McIntosh
PAGE 6, Monday, September 9, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
How The Mudd and Pigeon Peas were lost By RASHAD ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter rrolle@tribunemedia.net PASTOR Wilson Isnord, a tall, youthful leader in the Haitian community, walked through puddles of water and piles of trash with a loudspeaker in hand as rain fell from overcast skies, shouting a simple message in Creole and English: “Get out and evacuate.” Defence Force officers accompanied him through The Mudd and Pigeon Peas of Abaco some 12 hours before Hurricane Dorian made landfall on September 1. There were dilapidated houses densely packed together, throngs of electrical wires illegally strewn from house to house, and piles of garbage seemingly not collected for weeks - all the trappings of life in these sprawling shantytowns -the country’s two largest, before Dorian decimated them. Music blared from speakers. Men crowded into barber shops to get haircuts. Cats, dogs and chickens roamed the area. Children played in the mud. Some people gathered and listened to Pastor Isnord’s pleas, others mocked him, but most paid him no mind. Several people, including a man with an 11-monthold child in his arms, said they didn’t know where the shelters were and therefore didn’t plan to go. The scene remained lively with activity – but not evacuation – when The Tribune passed the area six hours before the storm hit. Less than ten hours later, The Mudd and Pigeon Peas would be gone and hundreds would be feared dead under its rubble. Regardless of socio-economic backgrounds, during the storm, experiences of all Abaconians seemed to converge when Hurricane Dorian struck. Many, not familiar with severe flooding in areas like Murphy Town and Dundas Town, were stunned to suddenly be trapped in closets or on roofs, and they used the lull that came with the passage of the eye to seek shelter and higher ground. But for many in the shantytowns the density of the buildings and the roughness of the landscape made escape impossible. Residents there thought they had enough time to observe how strong the storm would be and
determine whether evacuation was necessary. “We didn’t leave because we were being hardheaded,” said Peria, a 23-year-old, newly married, one-month pregnant woman who escaped the Pigeon Peas in the arms of her 26-year-old husband Cliff alongside her two young children. The Tribune met the young couple at the government complex on Wednesday morning as they headed outside seeking somewhere to bathe. “Most people don’t evacuate during storms,” Cliff said. “They wait to see the storm for themselves and that’s when they decide. Also, the times we were hearing were inaccurate. First they said it was supposed to come this time and this time, and later and later, so we kept moving up and down, back and forth until people stopped leaving.” For law enforcement and government officials watching the storm through the windows of the government complex, the scene during the lull was staggering. They watched as seemingly thousands of people from The Mudd and Pigeon Peas seeped through the bushes that separate the complex from the shantytowns and from the roadways that surround the area. Abaco island administrator Maxine Duncombe made a command decision to open up the complex, home to government departments from the National Insurance Board to the Bahamas Agricultural & Industrial Corporation, to the now displaced residents fleeing the storm. In the subsequent days, people slept in hallways, on desks, tables, chairs, or while standing up. Many couldn’t sleep at all and the complex buzzed with human activity throughout the night. Reporters were warned not to walk barefoot in the corridors because people had been urinating and defecating on the ground. “We saw people get carry before our eyes,” Cliff said about escaping the Peas during the storm. “We had two children and had to swim out of 30 feet of surging water. It even carried my wife. I had to hold on to her. I had no idea what would happen. We knew it would flood, but we thought it would gradually grow; but
I watched the water grow from a foot to 30 feet in about three minutes.” Turning to his wife, Cliff’s eyes bulged. “I seen Cybil’s mother who’s dead,” he said, “her head is swollen already, her head and face. I seen it kill two people at one time between two buildings. Things were flying and knocking down people trying to run. One is my friend and one is his mother. His mother was with us, but he had to get his son out, he got his son out but he died when he went back for his mother”. Cliff’s story was almost identical to that told by Kevin Altidor, a professional basketball player in Europe whose nephew, Brenden Dion Altidor, spent the hurricane on a tree where he had been placed by his stepfather who went back to rescue his mother. Like many, Cliff’s wife Peria said her family lost all their identification documents, prompting concern about what her fate will ultimately be in the Bahamas. She said she was a Bahamian citizen. She matter-of-factly revealed that her mother was killed during the storm. “I feel like when it will hit me is when I have to disclose that to my 13-yearold sister, my 15-year-old brother living in the States, and my mother also has a 26-year-old living in Jamaica studying to be a brain surgeon, so he doesn’t know that she’s dead.” “I saw my house in the Peas and my house is resting on top of a dead body, and that dead body been there since Sunday and it’s now Wednesday,” she said. Though pregnant, she had not seen a doctor up to the time she spoke to The Tribune, fearing that they would transport her to Nassau and separate her from her family. When Dorian’s winds weakened, displaced residents at the shelter – just like residents elsewhere on the island – began to loot. They pushed trolleys back and forth from the Save-A-Lot warehouse
ABACO residents at the Government Complex that acted as a shelter during Hurricane Dorian. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff to the government com- just outside the Peas; eight is next, don’t know what had evacuated the plans are, so whatever plex, sometimes making people multiple trips. They car- there during the storm, the we can do to make things ried water, packaged foods condition of five of them better, we are doing it.” Some of the residents, and alcohol. Some stripped unknown. On Wednesday, The Trib- unable to speak English, naked and bathed in broad une found Mr Isnord, the walked up to reporters that daylight. They washed clothes Haitian pastor, at the gov- had recording devices, begging in Creole that their they somehow salvaged and ernment complex. Although he lived in messages be recorded and hung them out to dry on the trees surrounding the gov- Central Pines, he too had taken to family and friends escaped to the complex with outside Abaco. ernment complex. Some talked openly Some visited The Mudd his family after the windows and Peas after the storm, in his house blew out and about wanting to rebuild the Mudd. hoping to salvage valuables, the water began to rise. “Everyone here has a “These people won’t let but mostly recovering nothing from the rubble. Some story to tell about persons us stay here, ma boy, that’s beckoned to people pass- who died,” he said. “The why I took four bags of ing them by, saying: “Come mental state is terrible. cement and will rebuild see the dead body.” This People are traumatised, as soon as the floods go included bodies of three trying to cope with the down,” one man said. Many others just want to people who were crushed situation the best way they under the roof of a church can. You don’t know what leave Abaco behind.
described the scene of destruction they had to fly over as “just unbearable”. Another Abaco family was forced to seek refuge under their bed and in a closet after Hurricane Dorian’s ferocious gusts blew the roof off their Spring City home. Yolanda Albury, who has since been evacuated from the island, said her family didn’t have any warning signs before their roof was torn off. “We were all in the front room sitting down and the next thing we know our roof flew off, the sheetrock started dropping on us. Me and my mom grabbed our 11-year-old niece and we ran into another room. That part of the roof blew off; we ran in the closet. Sheetrock
was just dropping all over the place, so we had to run into my mom’s room,” she said. “My mom and niece went under the bed, while me and my brother stayed in the closet for two to three hours until the wind died down. After the wind died down, we ran across by our neighbour; it was a lot of water. The experience during this hurricane was terrifying, just terrifying.” After Dorian finally passed, they were able to see the trail of destruction the hurricane had cut across the island. “It hurts, because when I rode through the mainland Abaco.... it really hurts to see how terrible it is with all of the people that
died. In Marsh Harbour we could see houses crushing people and the clinic is a mess. Some people lost both of their legs; some people lost their lives. I just have to thank God that I’m still alive because I really thought that…the experience was hard and to know that I went through that and a lot of people didn’t, I thank God,” she said. “We lost our cars, we lost our home, and the only thing we have are the clothes on our back.” Maria Rose, who stayed at Abaco Beach Resort in Marsh Harbour during the storm, also had a “very scary” experience. Ms Rose said the roof started to come off on the hotel’s fourth floor.
HAITIAN BURRIS FILBURT, right, and another man stand on the extensive damage and destruction in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in The Mudd, Abaco. Photo: Gonzalo Gaudenzi/AP
77-YEAR-OLD DROWNED IN HER MARSH HARBOUR HOME By RIEL MAJOR Tribune Staff Reporter rmajor@tribunemedia.net
ASTRID Stratton, 77, drowned in her Marsh Harbour home during the height of last week’s hurricane that demolished her two-storey house. A nearby neighbour rushed over to try to save her, but, said a family member, he managed to survive only because he was young and strong, “although he did his best, he could not save her.” However, he was badly bruised from his failed attempt. Other members of Ms Stratton’s family fled to relatives in Florida and Nassau. One of the survivors on arrival in Nassau,
When the eye of the storm passed, she and her children “dashed from their section of the hotel” to the Below Deck area. She said: “That’s when it really became scary, because the roof started to fall and the water was coming down like waterfalls. The shutters came off and wind was coming in, so they closed the drapes because people started to panic. We all ended up moving to one side of the room because we were afraid the windows were going to burst open. “A lot of the people from a hotel nearby, Regattas, they had to swim from Regattas to get over to Abaco Beach because it was completely destroyed.
Abaco does not look like Abaco anymore.” With sustained winds of 185 mph, Dorian was the strongest hurricane on record to strike the Bahamas since records began in 1861. “In records going back over a century,” said Weather Underground meteorologist Jeff Masters, “there are no cases where an Atlantic Category 5 hurricane has impacted a land area for as long as Dorian battered the Bahamas. “Portions of (Dorian’s) eyewall lashed Great Abaco and Grand Bahama islands with Category 5 winds for a total of 22 hours before the great hurricane finally weakened to Category 4 strength,” said Mr Masters.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, September 9, 2019, PAGE 7
Little conctact as East End residents battle to survive By AVA TURNQUEST Tribune Chief Reporter aturnquest@tribunemedia.net BAHAMIANS who survived Hurricane Dorian’s deadly wrath in far-flung East Grand Bahama settlements remain locked in survival mode. It’s the only way they can stave off mounting grief from the unimaginable, and still uncalculated loss as they wait for relief with little contact from the outside world. The Category 5 storm ripped through close-knit communities filled with generational homesteads for more than 24 hours, washing away all trace of loved ones and leaving the landscape almost unrecognisable. Most neighbours have deep familial ties, making the loss experienced by survivors in the settlements of Gambier Heights, Bevans Town, and High Rock, unbearable. Pinder’s Point was said to have been completely decimated, and residents in High Rock have reportedly only found three bodies out of 15 known to be missing in that community. And although they believe the worst, some residents still prefer to say those lost in homes reduced to rubble or swept away by violent storm surge that swelled more than 20 feet high are missing. “I just call it missing than to say death,” said Dunlock Munnings in High Rock on Saturday. “Death is not the word I want to hear and death I will never believe until I see it. So what I’m saying is they’re missing, and who do it, nature.” Mr Munnings was at the North Riding Point Club when the storm hit, and when he returned to his home in High Rock there was no trace of his 53-yearold wife, Maria, 29-year-old son Raphael or six-year-old grandson DJ. “It’s mental,” Mr Munnings said when asked how he was coping, “no routine. It’s survival.” His brother Randal Munnings, Sr was visibly angered by the widespread loss to his family. Another brother, Charles has lost his daughter Monique and her children. “What do you mean hoping for? They get washed away,” said Mr Munnings Sr. As The Tribune walked through several settlements on Saturday, most residents could be seen cleaning out their homes, sweeping out debris and drying out anything that could be salvaged - which was very little. For some, keeping busy was the only method to fight the overwhelming degree of sadness and despair. In Bevans Town, Peggy Bridgewater, 57, said she could barely recognised the area when she returned after the storm. Her cousin Romeo Bridgewater was missing, with only a pile of rubble and two walls to mark where his home once stood.
DUNLOCK MUNNINGS, in High Rock, left, and Randal Munnings Sr and Kenneth Rolle, right. Mr Rolle sprained his ankle searching for his brother’s body on Thursday.
PEGGY BRIDGEWATER The home where her mother Coramae, and sisters Natasha, and former Senator and MP Pleasant Bridgewater, lived was gutted. The women had all evacuated the homestead Peggy has known all her life, in the distance the view of the sea looked serene and picturesque. “We had no idea where we were until we realised that certain things looked familiar,” Peggy said, “couldn’t even tell it was the town that we grew up in.” She added: “It’s a state of shock because my other sister, her house is destroyed, my brother, his house was covered with water. We had another house at Barbary Beach area and that is just a frame. All in all it’s just two houses that all the family have together left.” On Saturday, Peggy could be seen moving saltwater drenched church gowns and hats into a pile. She explained she was saving them for her mom to make the final determination on whether to toss them out. “To be honest with you,” she said, “I’m at the point of just wanting to just start over, and when I say start over not even here on the island. But for my mom this is her all and all, her everything. This means she’s lost everything, all memory.” The family lost its patriarch Prince Albert Bridgewater last year, and Peggy said her 88-year-old mother had been trying her best to hold onto anything that could invoke his memory. She appealed to the government to lift any red tape that could be potentially stalling aid, and suggested supplies and relief should be sourced from other islands. “They don’t even have food to eat,” she continued. “Even the people that have the food with them that they were able to save, it’s
now being minimised. They don’t have much and now the other family members are coming in from one area that was able to ride out the storm for food because it’s so limited. We are almost running out of water and all so why aren’t they just coming and going to the house they don’t even have to come out, just throw it.” The government has said its relief efforts into East Grand Bahama were hampered by breaches in the road connecting it to others parts of the island. Relief began trickling into East End on Thursday as crews continue to clear a path to the eastern tip. According to residents, the first aid packages came from the US by helicopter, with the Royal Bahamas Defence Force and Ministry of Works coming to do preliminary assessments on Thursday. On Friday, tracks were cut short some 200 yards west of Pelican Point as helicopters and drones flew overhead. The road has been completely chopped up in some parts, exposing underground cables and limestone with every utility pole either down or snapped off. Pockets of earth several feet deep appeared to have been scooped up and flung from all directions as the roots of trees, and in some parts mangroves, had been upended. A downed service tower, made of metal, was bent in two different places and underscored severity of the monster storm’s catastrophic impact. Back in High Rock, Ron Smith’s home was completely destroyed, but he could be seen intently sweeping out a room in his neighbour’s home that was filled with debris, seaweed and Sheetrock. Mr Smith, 50, had stayed in the settlement because his older brother, Clarence Jones, 61, - who is now missing - had refused to leave the area and was handicapped. He ended up spending about four hours stuck in a tree after he was swept out of the house and into nearby bushes by the storm surge. Mr Smith said: “I couldn’t left him in a wheelchair by himself, so just stay with him in case anything but when that surge came in with the water I tried to take him out the wheelchair and he was pulling the next way. So I try to see if I could find some other solution
THE HOME of Romeo Bridgewater in Bevans Town. Mr Bridgewater is still missing, and relatives fear his body may be underneath the rubble.
but it broke out the window and as I came around the current just take me into the bushes and I had to get up into the tree.” During that time, he told The Tribune all he could think about was his brother. “My mind was on my brother, I mean I only stayed for him. The police came by me and said well if I was coming out, if I was gonna evacuate but I told them no. “This my neighbour house, my house, that gone,” said Mr Smith, as he swept, not stopping for more than a couple seconds during the interview. “I had a handicapped brother in a wheelchair, he went missing. My neighbours went missing, his wife, him and his daughter. I only stayed because he stayed.” Mr Smith added: “I’m a Bahamian, I hear everybody talking about going to the States. I don’t plan to go to the States to live like no immigrant. “I’m a Bahamian I ga just thug it out and try to get Grand Bahama built back up. If He (God) brought me this far I could just take control
FORMER MP and Senator Pleasant Bridgewater surveys the damage to the home where she lived with her mother and sister. from there.” Several houses down, another brother of Mr Jones, Kenneth Rolle, 58, said he knew they would only be looking for his brother’s body. “I just want to find the body, but to tell you the truth ain’t no alive in it,” said Mr Rolle. “I wouldn’t be that foolish, maybe if he could have helped himself but he ain’t had no strength like that.” Jefford Kemp, 58, explained High Rock residents were struggling to stay balanced. “More people get hurt in this storm than ever,” Mr Kemp said. “Everybody in this settlement was touched by something that has gone wrong. Most people house total, house totally gone, totally gone. He continued: “It’s hard but you hardly could grieve. It’s hard to grieve in the sense that because you’ve got your own things to think about and then to think about the other people’s problems too. If you ain’ wanna go over that line, you gotta just keep a little balance, everybody need some help.”
Mr Kemp added: “The worst part is actually the lives that have been lost during this storm and they’re all close family.” In Gambier Heights, Pastor Preston Cooper, the PLP’s candidate for East Grand Bahama in the last election, said eastern communities had been totally isolated from the west in the days following the deadly storm. He was struggling to coordinate relief efforts with no car or phone service but was confident he would be able to set up a feeding centre in the coming days. His church has been gutted but he was determined to hold a church service in its yard yesterday. “It’s very important because my people need home,” he said, “the storm is gone, we have rise and shine to play the hand we were dealt. “God has given us this indomitable spirit inside of us that we have to be able to tap into that and go forward. We cannot just say have a pity party that’s not His purpose for us we are victorious people even in the midst of storm.”
PAGE 8, Monday, September 9, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Psychologists and therapists to offer crisis counselling By JEFFARAH GIBSON Tribune Features Writer jgibson@tribunemedia.net A GROUP of local psychologists and therapists is making plans to launch a crisis management counselling initiative that will provide assistance and support to those now dealing with the trauma of living through the horror of Hurricane Dorian. The “necessary services”, according to Jenna Christie, a social worker and family therapist, will help to stabilise survivors, give them a sense of control, and restore some level of normalcy and hope to their lives. Ms Christie, a trained welfare officer at the Department of Social Services, is among several counsellors and clinical psychologists who have
committed to offering their services as soon as the planned initiative is implemented. Once logistical details have been ironed out, the initiative will be launched immediately. Ms Christie said crisis counselling is as crucial for survivors as having food and water. “It is of the utmost importance. A lot of persons look at the basic, tangible, physical items that they need, but they also need this,” she said. “When you are in a traumatic event you are going through the stages of grief and people tend to think it is linear. But it is not. Persons are experiencing anger, distress, grief, even sometimes guilt that they survived and their loved ones didn’t. There is a lot of confusion going on, a lot of
THE Ministry of Social Services and Urban Development has established a hotline at the Disaster Management Unit for people wishing to register the names of family members they have been unable to contact since the passage of Hurricane Dorian. The phone number is
323-1877.
anxiety. Many of them are thinking, ‘What is my next move, where do I go?’ “Everything they knew has been stripped away all at once,
so that counselling is extremely important to help persons to build resiliency, and build upon what they already have within them.” Ms Christie said the crisis management initiative will offer a strength-based approach, empowering survivors and giving them control of their lives again. “Right now a lot of these survivors are experiencing fear. Fear is one of the biggest things right now. Then they are also in denial about what has happened,” she said. “They talk about the looting that is happening, and these are all very fear-based responses to what is happening. We look at it and say, ‘Why would people be doing that?’ But we are on the outside looking in, and the level of desperation they are experiencing
now is triggering these types of behaviours.” According to the American Counselling Association, crisis management should begin about three to five days after a traumatic incident. “Sessions shouldn’t be too long – no more than an hour or two – because anything longer will become counterproductive, because the person now becomes overwhelmed,” said Ms Christie. “However, this also depends on when a person is willing and ready to talk about what they are experiencing.” The proposed location for the initiative is the University of The Bahamas. More details about the crisis management counselling plan will be released in the coming days.
CONCERNS OVER OIL SPILL AT FACILITY ENVIRONMENT groups are concerned about the impact an oil spill at Equinor’s facility on Grand Bahama caused by Hurricane Dorian may have on wildlife, ground water and marine protected areas. Dorian stalled over Grand Bahama as a Category 4 hurricane for more than 24 hours after hitting the island late on September 1. In the aftermath of the deadly storm, photos emerged showing oil leaking from the South Riding Point storage and transshipment terminal. According to Equinor, the company that runs the facility, the terminal has a capacity to hold 6.75 million barrels of crude oil. At a National Emergency Management Agency press conference on Saturday, officials said they did not know how much oil had leaked out, adding that at up to that point, Equinor had not presented a complete assessment of the incident. In a statement, Equinor said there are no observations that the oil has seeped into the ocean adding it was too early to say how much oil had leaked from its facility. Company officials dispatched a crew to contain the spill early Sunday. That team was set to arrive in Grand Bahama by 9am Sunday on a 16-seater helicopter. A vessel with remedial equipment left a Louisiana port on Saturday and was expected to arrive within 90 hours of departure. “We have been in contact with the officials of Stat Oil, seeking to have a working remedy for the protection of the residents of Grand Bahama and to make sure that all life and the water
OIL on the ground at the Equinor facility in Grand Bahama. supply in that area is not had begun up to Saturday impacted on a long-term evening. basis,” John Clarke, chairHe later said: “Stat Oil man of the government’s reports that a vessel conDisaster Relief and Recon- taining remedial and spill struction Committee, said (cleaning) equipment has on Saturday. left a Louisiana port head“Stat Oil has not yet ing to Grand Bahama and presented a complete is expected to arrive in assessment of the oil 90 hours at the terminal. spill. We know that it is Additionally, as a more on the ground, it is their immediate response, a responsibility to pro- 16-seater helicopter will vide an assessment to the arrive in Grand Bahama at government of the Com- approximately 9am Sunday monwealth of the Bahamas, September 8, 2019 with we expect that assessment equipment and manpower will be made shortly and to contain the present spill that they would provide given the expected poor for us a working solution weather conditions. Furas well and our expectation ther, Equinor is sourcing would be that a solution additional materials and would include a plan for supplies from Buck Eye in clean up and restoration of Grand Bahama to supplethe area.” ment its supplies until the He said no clean up arrival of the vessel.”
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In a statement released on Sunday, the Bahamas National Trust said it intends to ensure that proper assessments of the full extent of the spill and impact to the wildlife, and a mapping of the extent of the leak into the ground water. The group said while it is focused on the human element of Dorian, there is a need to speak about the storm’s effects on the environment. “The Bahamas National Trust is particularly concerned about a major oil leak from the Equinor/ South Riding Point oil storage facility in East Grand Bahama, as confirmed by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA). We understand the company is developing a plan to deal with the leak, and a team from the Water and Sewerage Corporation (WSC) has been despatched to assess the situation. The BNT staff is also attempting to visit the
site to verify the extent of the leak. “This spill is of serious concern to the BNT. An already compromised ground water resource will once again be polluted with hydrocarbons that can have long-lasting impacts on communities and the people that rely on this water. Oil also kills many plants and animals, especially red mangroves and corals, therefore exacerbating the effects of the hurricane on the nearby ecosystems. This is particularly concerning for the three nearby protected areas, the Lucayan National Park, the Northshore and Gap National Park and the East Grand Bahama Protected Area.” The group also said: “The BNT encourages the government to hold the company, Equinor, fully accountable. It is our view that Equinor must fund the costs of these assessments, all recovery efforts
and to establish long-term monitoring programmes, to ensure the communities do not suffer from prolonged hydrocarbon exposure.” Equinor – formerly known as Statoil – said it has mobilised oil spill response resources to its South Riding Point Grand Bahama facility. Erik Haaland, a spokesperson, said in a statement: “ Our initial aerial assessment of the South Riding Point facility has found that the terminal has sustained damage and oil has been observed on the ground outside of the onshore tanks. It is too early to indicate any volumes. At this point there are no observations of any oil spill at sea. “Equinor has mobilised oil spill response resources and they will arrive at South Riding Point as soon as possible. We are now working to establish a better overview of the situation, and on mounting a safe and timely response to the situation.” He added: “We have informed the local authorities of our initial assessment and remain in dialogue with them. In preparing for the hurricane, Equinor shut down operations of the terminal at noon on Saturday, 31 August. As a part of this process, Equinor personnel were given time off to look after their families and secure their private homes. The advice from local authorities to evacuate certain areas has also been followed. None of our personnel were at the terminal when the hurricane took place. While weather conditions on the island have improved, road conditions and flooding continue to impact our ability to assess the situation and the scope of damage to the terminal and its surroundings.” When asked whether his ministry has been in communication with Equinor, Environment and Housing Minister Romauld Ferreira said: “We are enforcing compliance.”
Death Notice For MRS. LINDA ANNE ELZA passed away on 6th September, 2019, at the home of her parents on the Eastern Road, New Providence, The Bahamas. Mrs. Elza is survived by her daughter, Ms Katherine Elza and her parents, Godfrey K. Kelly, C.M.G., and his wife Mrs. Sonia Kelly. Funeral arrangements will be announced.
SALLY-ANN PRATT Registrar of Marriages
Arrangements by Kemp’s Funeral Home Limited, 19 Palmdale Avenue, Nassau, N.P., The Bahamas.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, September 9, 2019, PAGE 9
SOME of the damage across Abaco that has left buildings shattered, vehicles destroyed and the island devastated.
Photos: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
‘Looters took everything’ says Abaco storm survivor By CARA HUNT Tribune Features Writer cbrennen@tribunemedia.net AS survivors of Hurricane Dorian face the challenge of rebuilding their shattered lives, there is also the constant fear that desperation and chaos will lead to violence. Sandra Sands, whose home was completely destroyed in the storm, told The Tribune efforts to salvage property and begin to rebuild are already being hampered by looters and criminal activity. She said that when she and her husband, Reginald Sands, went to check on how their places of employment had fared – the Quality Star gas station and Abaco Hardware respectively — they found that looters had already snatched what they could from stores in the area. “They took everything from bedspreads to washers and dryers, to pencils and crayons. They had trolleys full of items from the stores. They raided the liquor store. I don’t understand why you would need washers and
dryers at this time; everything has been under water. They stole every gun and all the ammunition from my husband’s place of employment (the now destroyed Abaco Hardware), and the two young officers from the Royal Bahamas Defence just didn’t know what to do,” she said. Mrs Sands said Abaco is unsafe to live as every business and home has suffered major damage. “It is like a bomb went off and smashed everything,” she said. She said the threat of gangs preying upon people’s vulnerabilities is a very real threat. She and her husband spent their final night on the island on Wednesday, listening to gun fire in the distance. She is begging her fellow residents in the close-knit community to leave the island so it can be properly cleaned and the dead can be disposed of before everything descends into chaos. “There is nothing left on Abaco. Man-O-War Cay is 95 percent gone and there is no communication, ALIV is on, but BTC’s tower was cut
in half. For every five utility poles, four are properly down. Most of the homes have wells, but the water table has been compromised and so you cannot use those wells,” she said. And although Mrs Sands said she understands it will be a major challenge to relocate the thousands of residents, ensuring people have somewhere to peacefully rebuild is the most important thing right now. The rebuilding process won’t be easy. While she and her husband were fortunate enough to have home insurance, many residents of the island, who had still not completely rebuilt from prior storms, do not. It makes her worry for her neighbours. “You want to be in a position where you can help them, but you can’t and they can’t help you, because everyone is in the same position,” she said. Mrs Sands said she is haunted by the passage of the storm which she and her husband survived by huddling in their home. “My chandelier was swinging and our house was
CARS left piled up after Hurricane Dorian in Abaco. Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff She and her husband, fears what she will find rocking like I was in a boat. And after 37 years of mar- along with one of her grand- when she has to eventually riage, I left with just one daughters, were initially return. evacuated to Eleuthera suitcase.” “I wish that I had more She is also haunted by the and are now headed to the time to go through my deaths the storm left in its United States to live with house to look for things that wake – parents who were her daughter. I could salvage, memories “I just need to get away like my photographs, but unable to hold on to their children and elderly people for a while,” she said. I am afraid that they will And while she is relieved get into my house and take who may have survived the initial passage of the storm, to temporarily leave the what they want and there nightmare behind, she won’t be anything left.” but not the aftermath.
BOATERS SAVED 500 ABACO RESIDENTS IN AFTERMATH
TED, a Polish Canadian man rescued by the boater crews.
FIVE hundred stranded Abaco residents were rescued by a group of boaters who spent the last few days tirelessly searching for survivors in some of the island chain’s smaller cays. Volunteer Adam Darville told The Tribune that the group used 12-15 boats, including the power boat leaving from Spanish Wells, Eleuthera, each day before weather conditions caused them to have to halt operations. It has been a week since Hurricane Dorian slammed into Abaco and rescue efforts are still going strong. “It’s very encouraging the numbers that we were able to rescue,” he said. “Most of the people we rescued were all in pretty good shape
physically – mainly sunburned and stuff.” Among those he rescued were a Polish Canadian named Ted (Mr Darville didn’t get his last name) living on Guana Cay, his Brazilian fiancée and three small children and one teenager. Like many of the volunteers who have worked around the clock, Mr Darville said he immediately
said “yes” when he was asked to help with the rescue efforts. However, he noted that it has taken its toll on everyone involved. With weather conditions being what they are, he has returned to Nassau and says he needs to rest as he is exhausted. “We did what we had to do,” he says. “ It was a team effort.”
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HEADKNOWLES SUSPENSION LIFTED HEADKNOWLES founders yesterday confirmed that GoFundMe had temporarily suspended its crowd funding account, but the issue has now been rectified. According to both Gina Knowles and Lia Head-Rigby, due to the large sum of money that was raised in a short time, GoFundMe froze the account to verify its validity. “They had to flag our account to make sure it was legit,” Mrs Knowles said yesterday. “It’s happened before and we are all good to go and are back up and running.” Mrs Head-Rigby added there was email correspondence to verify donations would be released. She had also posted a message on Facebook several days ago further explaining the situation. “We have raised so much money that GoFundMe has flagged our hurricane relief page. It’s not a fraudulent page at all, we raised a half of a million dollars in 48 hours so it was flagged. They don’t know how much people love The Bahamas.” Up to press time, the hurricane relief account had raised more than $1m
ADAM DARVILLE
by 9,300 donors. Information about donations can be found on the HeadKnowles’ Facebook page or its website, headknowlesbahamas.com.
SALLY-ANN PRATT Registrar of Marriages
PAGE 10, Monday, September 9, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Police and defence force officers bring security By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net MORE than 900 Bahamian police and defence force officers are on the ground in Abaco and Grand Bahama, according to the Office of the Prime Minister, which said the necessary resources are being provided to ensure safety and security on those island. Meanwhile, over 100 officers from the Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) Defence Force arrived in The Bahamas yesterday to assist local law enforcement in providing safety and security on Abaco and Grand Bahama in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. The 119 Trinidadian soldiers, consisting of 100 officers from that country’s Defence Force Regiment, Coast Guard, Air Guard and Reserves, will be on the ground for the next 30 days as part of T&T’s support for The Bahamas’ disaster
relief efforts. The remaining 19 “reconnaissance” officers will also be stationed in The Bahamas to provide feedback to officials in T&T on how they may better assist local law enforcement while here, according to T&T’s Minister of National Security Stuart Young. Mr Young, who led yesterday’s contingent along with the commodore of T&T’s defence force, Darryl Daniel, said he has also brought with him a “small crew” from T&T’s Electricity Commission to assist with disaster relief efforts. He also said another crew from his country’s Water and Sewerage Authority should be in The Bahamas by Tuesday to “provide whatever support” they can. Meanwhile, Mr Young said the people of T&T are busy putting together “as much relief supplies as we can get” in accordance to what Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis has asked
BAHAMIAN SECURITY FORCE NUMBERS AS OF SATURDAY Royal Bahamas Police Force Abaco – Ordinary officers: 100; Reserves: 40. Grand Bahama • Ordinary officers: 400; Reserves: 150. Royal Bahamas Defence Force Abaco – Ground troops: 87; Ships crew: 47 (three vessels) - Total: 134. Grand Bahama– Ground troops: 65; Ship’s crew: 51 (one vessel) – Total: 116.
KEEPING security at Treasure Cay International Airport amid the evacuation. for. Mr Young said it is his hope that T&T’s private sector assists its government in getting those donations to The Bahamas “as quickly as possible”. “It’s a time like this when the global eyes are on our region, and I’m proud to be a son of the soil, not only of Trinidad and Tobago but of the CARICOM,” Mr Young said. “Because we may have our differences as we go along, as everyone does, but any time it’s a time of need like this we always come together.”
The arrival of yesterday’s contingent came hours after 120 officers from Jamaica’s defence force arrived in The Bahamas to lend their support to the ongoing disaster relief efforts. National Security Minister Marvin Dames and Royal Bahamas Defence Force (RBDF) Commodore Tellis Bethel met the Jamaican contingent at the Lynden Pindling International Airport sometime after 11pm. Speaking during a press conference to mark the arrival of the contingent from T&T, Mr Dames
Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
said the support of both Caribbean nations is a “testament of the relationship between all nations of the Caribbean, that in times of crisis they all rise to help and assist one another.” “Today we welcome the resources from Trinidad and Tobago, because now (we) will have a complement of officers from this great nation as well as Jamaica, to complement our Royal Bahamas Defence Force, and there’s no doubt about it, Commodore Bethel and his team are grateful. “…Because ours is a small country of just some 400,000 people, but a lot of land to (cover). And the more the merrier. And Commodore Bethel and his team would have worked with our brothers and sisters throughout this region
on many operations. So the good thing is we’re not talking about strangers here; we’re talking about persons who know each other. And that brings a lot to the table.” According to a statement from the OPM, a total of 274 officers from both the RBDF and the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF) were stationed on Abaco as of Saturday. Another 666 RBPF and RBDF officers were stationed on Grand Bahama, inclusive of police reserves. Additionally, the OPM’s statement said there are “large numbers” of security forces from the United States and the United Kingdom on the ground on both islands involved in search, rescue and recovery efforts.
ISLAND HOUSE PLEDGES $500,000 TO RELIEF EFFORT DONATIONS continue to pour in for victims of Hurricane Dorian, with The Island House pledging a minimum of $500,000 for immediate relief and subsequent rebuilding efforts. “The staff and partners of The Island House share the pain of our Bahamian family in Abaco and Grand Bahama, who’ve tragically been affected by the catastrophic Hurricane Dorian,” a statement from the boutique resort said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with all people impacted by the storm. In response to the desperate need for resources we have committed a minimum of $500k for the immediate relief and subsequent rebuilding efforts. “As part of the relief, we have already begun to help support and deploy equipment and experienced teams specialising in: strategic disaster response planning; helicopter search and rescue; emergency paramedics; coordination, transportation and provision of emergency supplies and personnel. “In addition to these immediate actions, we plan to participate in the longer term needs of our community,” The Island House said. CIBC also announced it is donating US$150,000 to support humanitarian relief
in areas impacted by Hurricane Dorian with a focus on the Northern Bahamas. “The funds, which include a donation through CIBC FirstCaribbean’s ComTrust Foundation, will be distributed through the Red Cross,” the bank noted in a press release. “We stand with all communities impacted by the devastating hurricane in the Bahamas and surrounding areas,” said Colette Delaney, chief executive officer, CIBC FirstCaribbean. “We are committed to helping our clients, team members and communities recover and rebuild.” In the Northern Bahamas, CIBC FirstCaribbean also will be extending special banking assistance to affected clients to aid in their recovery efforts, added Ms Delaney. Local insurance company JS Johnson made a $100,000 donation to the National Emergency Management Agency on Friday. Charles Johnson, JSJ senior manager said: “The destruction of this Category Five hurricane and the images that continue to circulate of unprecedented devastation on the islands and cays are heartbreaking. Our thoughts and prayers are with the people of the entire country, but particularly those directly affected by the storm.”
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Monday, September 9, 2019, PAGE 11
SAMARITAN’S PURSE TO OPEN FIELD HOSPITAL TODAY A 40-BED field hospital provided by the international emergency relief organisation Samaritan Purse should be open for business at Grand Bahamas’ Rand Hospital today. Samaritan’s Purse made its first airlift to The Bahamas on Thursday at the
request of the World Health Organization and the government. A second DC-8 airlift of hospital components - the organisation’s third total relief flight - was sent the following day. Since the equipment arrived a large team of
medical specialists, including doctors and nurses, and other experts who were also flown in have been working round the clock to get the hospital operational. The 40-bed facility will have an outpatient department and emergency
WIDESPREAD damage caused by Hurricane Dorian to Abaco.
IN the wake of Hurricane Dorian, numerous international organisations are providing their services to aid the Bahamas in its recovery efforts, one of them being the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department’s Urban Search and Rescue Team. With 57 officers and four canines, the team will work with the Bahamian government to conduct search and rescue missions on the affected islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama. “We got here at about 3am Thursday morning and we were able to work with the United States Coast Guard to do an aerial reconnaissance of both Abaco and most of Grand Bahama Island to sort of identify the priority needs for both humanitarian and search and rescue requirements,” said John Morrison, public information officer of the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue Team. “Based off of that we have identified, (we have) a place for our base of operations to be set up on Abaco. We actually have folks on the ground right now assessing our base that we saw from the air, to ensure that it is appropriate.” On Friday, Mr Morrison said the intention is to move their entire team as soon as possible into Abaco and utilise aerial resources shared
between the United States Coast Guard, the United States military, as well as the United States Customs and Border Protection, to start “hopping around” to the priority spots they have identified. “We respond all around the world for disasters on behalf of the United States government. We are bringing about 50,000 pounds of equipment. I haven’t flown over yet, but based on what I have been told there is substantial damage and destruction in the direct path of the hurricane. So everything from roofs missing – and I am sure you guys have seen it – to complete structures (destroyed). And there are washed-out roads which really complicates moving things around the island, and that is why having aerial resources such as helicopters makes things much easier and complex in putting things at the right place and time,” he said. Once set up, Mr Morrison said the intention is to hit those priority areas that both the Bahamian government and the reconnaissance flights have identified – putting team members on the ground, and essentially either via driving through those areas slowly, or walking through them, assess if there are any search and rescue needs or any humanitarian needs in those areas. “So it is making contact with those people and
IMMIGRATION APPREHENSION EXERCISES ARE SUSPENDED DEPARTMENT of Immigration apprehension exercises have been suspended in Abaco and Grand Bahama in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian. This is according to Financial Services, Trade and Industry and Immigration Minister Elsworth Johnson. “As we are presently experiencing a humanitarian crisis in (the) aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, strict instructions have been given to the Immigration Department that our concentration is on assisting
with the humanitarian efforts to rescue and save lives regardless of place of origin, nationality or immigration status,” he said in a statement on Friday. “Further, while we are obligated to, and will continue to, secure our borders, all domestic apprehension exercises in the affected areas are suspended. We also invite all in our community to assist as best they can with the humanitarian efforts now underway. God bless you, and God bless the Bahamas.”
relief aboard a DC-8 aircraft. More than a dozen disaster response team specialists were also onboard. In total, the organisation now has more than 60 staff members on the ground in The Bahamas. Emergency relief supplies have also been
dispatched to Abaco. “Families in The Bahamas are suffering,” said Franklin Graham, president of Samaritan’s Purse. “Please join me in praying for everyone affected by this hurricane, and for our teams as we respond in Jesus’ Name.”
Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
Fairfax fire crew joins in search and rescue effort By ALESHA CADET Tribune Features Reporter acadet@tribunemedia.net
room, equipped to serve up to 100 patients a day. There will be an operating room — with capacity for ten surgeries per day — and an obstetrics ward with delivery room. Last Wednesday, Samaritan’s Purse sent more than 30 tons of emergency
assessing if they have food, water and medication, so that we can give that information to the Bahamian government as well as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID),” said Mr Morrison. “It depends what they have identified, we will begin today or in the very near future, I hope it is as soon as possible. It is just complicated because moving 57 people and 50,000 pounds of equipment is not a logistically easy thing to do.”
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THE STORIES BEHIND THE NEWS
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9TH, 2019
This is not a time for partisan politics. It is a time for bigger thinking. By FREDERICK SMITH QC IT’S PRETTY tough up here. I am lucky to be alive and thankful. There was no storm surge on the south of Freeport. There was minor damage to my home; water penetration, roof damage and huge landscape destruction. Our Freeport Garden City has been ravaged so often by hurricanes and recession that it’s very discouraging for us. Yet, what has been refreshing is how our community has come together so positively in helping each other. Thousands of people have been displaced and lost their homes. The 20 foot surge from the north reached all the way through downtown. Only the southern elevation didn’t flood. Bodies are still being found. I’m anxious about out East GB. There’s very little information. There is a community group which is recconoitering today. Human Rights Bahamas and Save The Bays are working closely with NEMA and many other organisations both in Nassau and Freeport helping to organise relief supplies and distribution. HRB is assisting with many of the Bahamians of Haitian descent and or Haitians, identifying missing and or deceased family in Abaco and in person as they arrive by boats and planes. It is a tragedy what
happened in Abaco. Historically, much hatefulness has been directed at the thousands of people in the Mud and Pigeon Peas shanty towns. Because successive Governments don’t want them to exist, there has been no provision for sanitation, utilities, shelter or other resources over the years in case of a disaster like this. I understand the MP for Abaco Minister Darren Henfield did his best, with the police, to try and get thousands to evacuate. They were able to get many to go to the government administration building for shelter. However, the residents were fearful of being evicted. They have laboured under the constant threat of having their homes demolished. Although most of them are born in The Bahamas, many of them are undocumented and fearful of Immigration. Sadly, many preferred to take their chances with the Dorian. As can be seen from the dead bodies being pulled out of the rubble those poor people are paying the price for historic and intentional systemic political neglect and scapegoating. At this time, thankfully, another beacon of light shined through from Immigration Minister Elsworth Johnson and Director Clarence Russell who issued a statement that Immigration would not engage in any interdiction exercises in the affected areas, relief
would not be withheld on the grounds of nationality or place of origin, and they would deploy their resources to humanitarian assistance. The three economic pillars of The Bahamas are the Abacos, Freeport and New Providence. Abaco has been devastated. Grand Bahama and Freeport are crippled, but will be able to rebound. The only way to recover economically is to rebuild. That will depend on foreign and domestic financial aid, use of all available human resources within The Bahamas and also insurance companies being fair and generous. Since then AN AERIAL view of This should be it has been damage to Statoil a wake up call to treated as in Grand Bahama. politicians and such. At great technocrats to and unnecesstop being mired in sary cost to the minutiae and control Bahamian taxand to focus on longpayer, Immigration term strategic planning and has been arresting people quality of life issues. who are simply “undocuTo rebuild in both islands, we should take mented” not “illegal”, and advantage of all our human detaining them instead of resources, both legal and focusing on protecting the illegal. The Bahamas borders and preventing doesn’t really have that more illegal immigration. I urge the Government many illegal immigrants. It’s really an issue of many to consider an immigration thousands of people of amnesty and to give people Haitian origin being who are here illegally temporary status and to stop “undocumented”. Bear in mind that prob- the illegal round ups, so ably most Bahamians don’t that the labour and the coleven have a passport. Being lective human resources of “documented” is not a legal thousands of people born in requirement and, until the Bahamas - who consider Minister of Immigration themselves Bahamian and Fred Mitchell’s new policy who are entitled to citizenin 2014, it was not an issue. ship - can be put to positive
use in reconstructing Abaco and Grand Bahama. We will need every hand on deck! In addition we are going to require a vast amount of foreign human resources to help rebuild. Immigration is going to have to allow many thousands of foreigners in to help. The government must cut through all the red tape that has been strangling our economy so that both domestic and foreign investment can inject economic life blood into both islands. We have suffered catastrophic destruction to lives and property. Reconstruction can be an economic boom. Our politicians should embrace it and take advantage of the opportunity. This is not a time for partisan politics. It is a time for bigger thinking. The availability of capital to Abaco and Grand Bahama will depend on money flowing from the insurance companies and foreign and domestic direct aid. Government must protect the victims of this disaster by stronger oversight of the insurance companies. After hurricanes Jean and Frances and others, many people did not recover what they should have from insurers because there was no provision for mandatory interim payments to tide people over so that they could properly assess their damage and make proper claims. Many insurers took advantage of many people in Grand Bahama. There is no Legal Aid; there are no jury trials in civil cases and no punitive damages awards. Insurers retain the best law firms to defend until the claimant is worn down. Litigation is not a viable option. Many were forced by dire circumstances to accept pennies on the dollar for their homes and possessions. Future laws to protect the claimants should be a priority. It’s a time for us to all work together in this short term, to focus on bringing relief to every human being that has been so traumatized by Dorian. It looks like there’s going to be a challenge for Water and Power in Grand Bahama. Everybody is working feverishly to do their best. Most of the downtown businesses can’t reopen as most were under five to six feet of salt water. We built our Callenders offices six feet above ground even though there had never been a flood that high downtown. In hindsight we should also have lifted the generator and air-conditioners up six feet as well. The water reached the last step. It didn’t go into our offices, but the air conditioners and generator went under.
The offices were built as a shelter, but many of our staff had a rough time because the power went out quickly and all of their vehicles in our car park were destroyed. Our family of employees, many of whom have been with us for nearly 30 years are in a bit of a daze, cleaning out their homes as best they can with no water and no power in the heat and stench of salt water flooding. Grand Bahamians are exhausted. We have been regularly hit with damaging hurricanes over the recent decades. Freeport’s infrastructure has been slowly collapsing for lack of investment. It’s just growing old. Most of the infrastructure, which envisaged a city of 300,000 people, was built between 1955 and 1970. Lack of maintenance and financial inability to rebuild and recover after hurricanes have greatly contributed to its unfortunate decay. Freeport could still become the Venice of the Caribbean. Most people do not have an appreciation for the scale of the infrastructure. It would cost billions and billions to build today. A tour through the many canal systems, the miles and miles of roads to nowhere, and empty subdivisions of land would startle a rational mind! It’s really been a disservice to The Bahamas that no government since 1968 has appreciated the value of this infrastructure to capitalize on it for the Bahamas by letting go of the obsessive and irrational political strangulation of Freeport. Sadly, Freeport is just going to waste while successive governments focus on agreements for relatively miniscule developments which pale into insignificance compared with the potential of Freeport. I’m glad that Carnival and others have recommitted to their investments to help resurrect GB. But in East GB the oil is leaking from STATOIL. Hopefully this will be a wake up call to pass an environmental protection act and NOT to continue to promote the development of the Oban oil refinery in East GB. An oil disaster in East GB will affect the southern coast of Freeport to West End as the prevailing current is from the south east. It will destroy all our beaches and marine life. If Oban is allowed to go ahead, and critically, if the STATOIL situation isn’t quickly fixed, it may affect Carnival, Royal Caribbean and other developers who may not want to invest because of the danger of oil pollution migrating to our pristine tourism resources. As we can see the world loves The Bahamas. Let’s seize the moment and show them what a beautiful country we can be.
EMAIL: insight@tribunemedia.net
INSIGHT
HUNDREDS of Hurricane Dorian survivors gathered at Treasure Cay International Airport in attempts to evacuate the island.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2019 PAGE 9
Photo: Shawn Hanna/Tribune Staff
A mountain to climb which we must do together By MALCOLM STRACHAN THE devastation left in the wake of Hurricane Dorian’s wrath has been absolutely unimaginable. As we braced ourselves for this monstrous Category 5 hurricane, there is no way we could have fathomed the trail of destruction that would be left behind. Footage depicting people’s lives scattered across Abaco and Grand Bahama in unrecognisable mangled pieces of debris have been plastered all over local and North American media outlets. Accounts of the sheer horror experienced by those who stayed and experienced the utter devastation have traumatised not only an entire nation, but also many onlookers from around the world. Without question, this is the most heartbreaking experience we’ve ever had to endure as a people. Bahamians, for the most part, are easygoing, fun-loving and laid back – befitting of the widely held view of what living on an island paradise should be like. Now, after an immeasurable amount of damage and a still yet to be confirmed number of deaths, the world is able to see a different side of who we are. They’re seeing our pain and suffering. They’re witnessing the grief of loss - loss of love and everything people have worked their entire lives for. One particular image comes to mind that perfectly captures the story of so many of these survivors – that of an elderly woman standing on the foundation of what was once the home she toiled for eight to ten hours a day, five days a week, labouring in the intense heat of the sun. In that one image, as she looks up at the heavens,
her suffering is palpable. You can feel it as your chest tightens and you fight back tears. To feel such extreme heartache for people we don’t even know personally is more indicative of our deep love for each other as Bahamian people. Historically, there has never been a time when we’ve needed each other’s hearts more. Considering how shattering this has been for Abaconians, Grand Bahamians and the entire populace, many of us may need to consider grief counselling. For those of us more closely affected, it should be mandatory. By analysing the effects of the United States’ costliest storm and pondering our path to healing, much consideration has to be given to how we address the mental state of our country. In 2005, when Hurricane Katrina, a Category 3 storm, made landfall on New Orleans, their population size was 480,000. Based on CNN reports, 1,833 people died as a result of Hurricane Katrina with 1,577 of that total number being victims located in Louisiana. Although one loss of life is too much, that number of fatalities was still less than one percent of their entire population. Nonetheless, the effects of Katrina reverberated throughout New Orleans as a population struggled to cope with loss and rebuilding their lives. Statistics outlined in a 2006 New York Times article covering the mental health challenges of Katrina survivors described a harrowing tale. In New Orleans, prior to the storm, Deputy Coroner Dr Jeffrey Rouse (at the time) indicated the city’s suicide rate was less than nine a year per 100,000 residents. After,
DESTRUCTION caused by Hurricane Dorian is seen from the air, at the Abaco Beach Resort in Marsh Harbour. Photo: Gonzalo Gaudenzi/AP
as you may have already imagined, that number sky-rocketed in just four months. By the end of 2005, the suicide rate had nearly tripled to a rate of 26 per 100,000 residents. Though the government has confirmed that 43 people have died at the hands of Hurricane Dorian, many survivors who’ve given first-hand accounts believe that number is a drop in the ocean. With one list on the internet including more than 5,000 names, many of us are still hoping for a miracle, while others grow more hopeless as the days pass without any communication from missing loved ones. Minister of Health Duane Sands similarly believes the
official death toll will floor most citizens. “Let me say that I believe the number will be staggering,” he said. “I have never lived through anything like this and I don’t want to live through anything like this again.” The entire country is in total agreement. To that end, as the focus is currently on evacuating our brothers and sisters, you can be certain the events leading up and in the aftermath of this storm will be litigated in the court of public opinion. However, right now, the time calls for sensitivity and solidarity among the Bahamian people. Fighting among one another and allowing issues of prejudice to
take centre stage will be counter-productive. From the looks of it, we were not prepared for this storm – not by a long shot. And as a result, thousands of Bahamians are not the same people they were the morning before the storm. For many of them - as we commonly do – they figured they would be able to brave the storm out and certainly could not imagine they would now be replaying the losses of their loved ones and members of their community. Saying this is a tragedy is an absolute understatement. Furthermore, it really makes you consider what a crisis really is. Without a doubt, many of us wish our brothers
and sisters on the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama were only without power today, instead of being without life. Our mental health is now a serious matter of priority and we certainly hope the ministries of health and social services are going to be up to the mammoth task of helping thousands of the distressed. As for those of us who were not affected directly by the storm, let’s form a tent around our brothers and sisters. They are going to need every supporting word and act of love they can get. This is going to be a steep, uphill climb back to normalcy – or whatever that is.
PAGE 14, Monday, September 9, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
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We must be united in response IT was perhaps inevitable that after the initial rush of support in the wake of the immediate impact of Hurricane Dorian that dissenting voices would start to be raised. NEMA isn’t doing enough, some say, it’s too disorganised, it’s chaotic. It would be a remarkable thing indeed if, in the face of a category five storm, everything was able to be resolved smoothly and quickly. This country is facing a challenge like never before - and meeting it exposes our weaknesses, even as it showcases our strengths as we unite to try to reach those in need of aid. Sometimes, too, what people see as a slow reaction is the rescue effort taking its time to make sure it doesn’t cause more harm. Some were calling for bulldozers to clear the roads, for example, while Minister of National Security Marvin Dames pointed out that you can’t do that until you’ve established the debris is clear of bodies, or indeed of survivors. There is criticism too of limitations being placed on airspace in the area. Why slow the rescue effort down by stopping planes getting in there? Well, as our story on page three reveals, you might cause more problems with crowded airspace. The prime minister’s own plane, with dignitaries from a number of nations on board, had a near miss while trying to inspect the damage. Other voices have called out for Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis to go, for NEMA to be scrapped, and more, even as moves are made to bring in support for the relief operation from the likes of the United States Agency for International Development’s Disaster Assistance Response Team, which is already on the ground to lead the US government’s humanitarian response. There is also support too from the United Kingdom - with the RFA Mounts Bay having already been delivering relief in Abaco, and the HMS Protector setting sail from Bermuda today loaded up with donations and relief supplies. We would also note the political maturity that has seen the PLP seek to assist, not to tear down, and seen Opposition leader Philip ‘Brave’ Davis
stand alongside the prime minister as the country seeks the best path toward recovery. Can things be done better? Yes, they can. Some of those in leadership have seen those weaknesses too and are trying to remedy them. We all share the frustration of not getting to our loved ones, our relatives, our friends as quickly as we would like. We might sometimes forget that those officers and leaders co-ordinating the relief effort also have family and friends in need of assistance in the affected islands. Those on the ground trying desperately to get through the debris to reach people they have known all their lives will be the first to say if they think things aren’t going quickly enough - and how to do it better. Suggestions from others with good ideas ought to be welcomed too - but put those suggestions to those who can implement them, don’t just throw them out into social media and hope they find their way to the right ears. Beyond that, the biggest thing you can do is reach out and help. There are a host of civic organisations who can use your assistance, whether it is financial, donations of goods or other useful items, or just offering your hands and your labour to pack boxes full of relief supplies. Those civic organisations have mobilised an incredible response. These are the people we should be celebrating next month for National Heroes Day. Each and every person who has shown up and put in the effort for their fellow Bahamians deserves to be saluted, for the work they have done so far, and the work they will continue to do as we seek to recover from this disaster. You can join them. Find a group. Offer to help. Find a way to play your part. We do not seek to underplay the momentous scale of the challenge we face now and in the future - but the hurdles we face we must overcome, and our best chance of doing that is working together. We must unite, Bahamas. For if we are united, we can meet this challenge. For all those affected, we owe them nothing less.
What will we learn from Hurricane Dorian? EDITOR, The Tribune. The whole country I expect sends their support to everyone who was impacted by Dorian…as a people saddened on hearing the deaths. Will we do anything different? Honestly I really doubt it same old same old political patronage function speech after speech and nothing new… government every year hurricanes come understand? Contingency? No more borrowing $200m in the Budget set aside for hurricanes if not used one year roll-over to the next…no pinching Mr Finance Man. We have to consider some ‘eco-tax’ also set aside for also such incidents for remedial issues. Hurricanes cost big money and they ain’t going away. This September at the UN-NY there is a conference on Climate Change - hope whoever speaks for us makes a lot of noise as it is time polluting countries – stop polluting or pay up. If we upset the US who cares one of these mega storms will hit them sooner of later then they might wake up. We should be working with all countries which are naturally impacted - The Commonwealth to put the most serious argument.
Remediation? Getting things back to normal… how the $100m borrowed from IDB will be spent? PM no old political hack please - total 100% accountability - all works put to tenders a major decision has to be made on building code… we seem to think we never get hurricanes build on land which is at sea level and anticipated the sea will never flood you. Grand Bahama - if the partners of GBPA do nothing to financially support the property covenants there should be a class action lawsuit if the end means the property owners seize GBPA then let it be…last time GBPA invested almost nothing in restoration. Pinewood has to be resolved…Coconut Grove flooding also… ponding along our newer roads, why? A lot of post hurricane talk about purpose built shelters - can’t afford them they have to have mixed uses…have to be in areas that do not flood or have to be raised buildings higher than the flood plane have to have all the modern facilities including generator - a/c - cafeteria. Schools are the natural location for these just to use the buildings once a year is a luxury.
The talk about investors paying for them is loose talk. Bahamas Meterological Office Department, we need a state-of-the-art facility - all the modern technology - the forecaster should be able at any time broadcast live from the facility. Adequate sleeping facilities - bathrooms/showers a closed in and covered space for the employees’ vehicles. This is not a thought it has to be real plan now - get it ready by 2020 season…no excuses… NOAA would provide the expertise, ask the US to finance - the US would benefit from it as they do now. The doppler radar stations have to be tested pre-season no excuses them going down when needed like this time… no excuses. Town Planning Regulations must be looked at very seriously radical revision and new provisions. Town Planning must have enforceable authority. Alas the same will happen like Matthew like that one and this one a lot of political talk and zero action…like so much… young people tired. ABRAHAM MOSS Nassau, September 3, 2019.
Is there no justice for the poor? EDITOR, The Tribune. Please publish this open letter to: Dear Prime Minister, I spent 6 hours yesterday at Jet Aviation trying desperately and unsuccessfully to evacuate my family members from Abaco. My niece, Jennifer Sears, her companion, Myron Delancy, and her four children (ages 1, 3, 5 and 8), lost everything they owned in Murphy Town, Abaco, during Hurricane Dorian. My brother, Peter Sears, his wife, Collette Sears, who is disabled, their two sons and a disabled daughter lost everything they owned in Murphy Town as well. After the hurricane, with nothing but the clothes on their backs, they managed to get to the Sandy Point Airport waiting for days to be evacuated to Nassau. Hopefully, we will get them out today. As I observed the
LETTERS letters@tribunemedia.net desperate survivors arrive from Abaco, it seems that there is no justice for poor people in The Bahamas. Only Government officials, wealthy companies, the critically injured, US citizens or those with means or influence are being evacuated from Abaco. However, the global humanitarian practice is to first evacuate, free of charge, all victims of a national or traumatic disaster to a safe and secure location with proper facilities; then secure and protect the disaster ares; then assess the damage; and then implement a rational restoration plan, based on national policies. God help the average Bahamian person, who is not a priority even in the aftermath of this national disaster. What I saw yesterday in the faces of
Bahamians and friends arriving from Abaco is a sad reflection of the total collapse of the Bahamian state, leaving thousands of Bahamians bruised for life. I saw and spoke with the military officers of a Jamaican Defence Force specialist plane that came from Jamaica to conduct aerial mapping of Abaco and Grand Bahama, but was stuck on the ground at Jet Aviation because they could not get priority clearance from Civil Aviation to fly and therefore had to abandon their mission for yesterday. Evacuate the people, who want to leave, out of these intolerable conditions, without charge, to secure locations where they can be processed, counseled, reunited with family members and assisted, over time, to get back on their feet! ALFRED SEARS Nassau, September 6, 2019.
Keep out the scam fundraisers EDITOR, The Tribune. Fundraising for Dorian victims Unless you are a registered Not for profit group, sorry go get registered before you fundraise. Again, Dorian like Mathew will cause and create scam opportunities playing on the innocent and stealing every dime. Don’t care church or big shot, all must be registered. Registrar general should publish the list of
non-profits… it must be a requirement for a Licence Registration Number and that must appear in all promotion material - bank account information, etc… Keep the scams out. I see in Miami fundraising is taking place… Bahamas Government needs to liaise with authorities there to ensure everything is above board. Who are the principals behind the fund and material collection? The Consul General in Miami needs
to ensure all of this is legitimate. All shipments must be thoroughly checked by Customs for contraband drugs - guns, etc… an ideal method to smuggle. When the goods arrive the recipients have to be registered not for profit NGO… no exemptions. Merchandise held is no registration and seized. W THOMPSON Nassau, September 3, 2019.
THE TRIBUNE
Monday, September 9, 2019, PAGE 15
Offices searched after scuba diving boat fire SANTA BARBARA, California Associated Press AUTHORITIES served search warrants yesterday at the Southern California company that owned the scuba diving boat that caught fire and killed 34 people last week. Agents with the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and other agencies searched Truth Aquatics’ offices in Santa Barbara and the company’s two remaining boats, Santa Barbara County sheriff’s Lt Erik Raney said. The warrants served shortly after 9am are part of the ongoing investigation into the tragedy to determine whether any crimes were committed, he said. The office was ringed in red “crime scene” tape as
more than a dozen agents took photos and carried out boxes. Thirty-four people died when the Conception burned and sank before dawn on September 2. They were sleeping in a cramped bunkroom below the main deck and their escape routes were blocked by fire. The bodies of all but one victim have been recovered. The search for the final body was suspended this weekend because of strong winds and rough seas, Raney said. “The dive teams are going to get together Monday to develop a plan. We’re hoping they’re back in the water on Tuesday,” he said yesterday. For a judge to approve warrants, law enforcement must spell out the probability a crime was committed. Raney declined to comment
on what evidence was disclosed to obtain the warrants, saying only that they are “a pretty standard” part of the investigation to determine whether crimes occurred. Coast Guard records show the Conception passed its two most recent inspections with no safety violations. Previous customers said Truth Aquatics and the captains of its three boats were very safety conscious. Authorities are focused on determining the cause of the fire and are looking at many things, including how batteries and electronics were stored and charged. They will also look into how the crew was trained and what crewmembers were doing at the time of the fire. The boat’s design will also come under scrutiny.
A DIVE boat is engulfed in flames after a deadly fire broke out aboard the commercial scuba diving vessel off the Southern California Coast.
PAGE 16, Monday, September 9, 2019
THE TRIBUNE
Four dead, nine injured in New Providence shootings By NICO SCAVELLA Tribune Staff Reporter nscavella@tribunemedia.net FOUR people are dead and another nine injured following five separate shooting incidents in undisclosed areas of New Providence over the weekend. Police were scant with the details up to press time, but confirmed that the fatal shootings occurred on Friday in four separate incidents. Another eight people were also hospitalised for non-life threatening injuries as a result of Friday’s incidents, police have said. Police provided no other details, other than to say that officers are “aggressively on the ground” in the eastern, south-eastern, central and south-central districts pursuing leads into those incidents. Friday’s fatal shootings have taken the country’s
murder count to 67 for the year, according to this newspaper’s records. Meanwhile, police are also investigating the circumstances of the fifth shooting incident for the weekend that has left a man hospitalised. According to reports, shortly after 2am on Sunday, a man was walking on St Alban’s Drive when he was approached by an armed man who shot him before getting into a silver coloured vehicle and speeding off. The victim is presently listed in stable condition. Friday’s murders are the first to be recorded since the passage of Hurricane Dorian. Prior to the monster storm’s arrival, police in New Providence were investigating two separate murders that occurred on August 30. The first homicide was the result of a man being stabbed about the body, police said.
MAN DIES AFTER BEING HIT BY CRANE A MAN died after he was hit by a crane and thrown to the ground at a construction site in West Ridge, New Providence on Saturday, police said. The man was standing on the scaffolding at a construction site shortly after 11am when the crane, operated by another man,
accidentally hit him and threw him to the ground, police said. Paramedics were called to the scene and attempted to resuscitate the victim, but were unsuccessful. He died at the scene. Police are investigating the death as an industrial accident.
YOUTH DROWNS AT ARAWAK CAY POLICE on New Providence are investigating the circumstances surrounding an alleged drowning that occurred on Saturday. According to reports, shortly after 2pm, a group of teenaged boys were swimming in waters at Arawak Cay off West Bay Street, when one of
them became distressed and went under the water. He was taken from the water in an unconscious state and taken to hospital where he was later pronounced dead. An autopsy will be performed to determine the exact cause of death. Investigations are continuing.
MECHANIC ACCUSED OF TRYING TO SABOTAGE AIRLINER A MECHANIC for American Airlines was arrested on Thursday and accused of trying to sabotage a commercial airliner shortly before it was set to take off from Miami International Airport for The Bahamas with 150 people on board. Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani has been charged with “wilfully damaging, destroying, disabling, or wrecking an aircraft, and attempting to do so,” according to a criminal complaint filed in federal court. Alani allegedly tried to damage or disable the aircraft’s air data module (ADM) system, which reports aircraft speed, pitch and other critical data, on July 17. On Thursday, investigators interviewed Alani and he “admitted that he accessed the ADM” and that he “inserted a piece of foam into the ADM’s inlet where the line connects and that he applied super glue to the foam so as to prevent the foam from coming off,” the complaint says. “Alani stated that his intention was not to cause harm to the aircraft or its passengers,” investigators say in the complaint. The court documents say Alani told investigators that he was upset over a contract dispute between union workers and the airlines, and the dispute had cost him money. Alani allegedly explained that he tampered with the
aircraft so he could get overtime working on the plane. As the plane went down the runway and pilots increased power to the engines, there was an error related to the ADM system and the takeoff was aborted. The aircraft returned to the concourse and no one on board was injured, the complaint says. American Airlines mechanics immediately inspected the aircraft and “discovered a loosely connected pitot tube, which connects directly to the ADM” and determined “the ADM appeared to have been deliberately obstructed with what appeared to be a dark Styrofoam-type material,” according to the complaint. Authorities used surveillance video to identify Alani, the document says. American Airlines, in a statement to CNN, said, “At American we have an unwavering commitment to the safety and security of our customers and team members and we are taking this matter very seriously. At the time of the incident, the aircraft was taken out of service, maintenance was performed and after an inspection to ensure it was safe the aircraft was returned to service. American immediately notified federal law enforcement who took over the investigation with our full cooperation.”
According to reports, two men were at a home on Bowe Avenue, Montell Heights shortly before 9pm that Friday when an argument escalated resulting in one of them producing a knife and stabbing the other about the body. The injured man was taken to hospital, but later died of his injuries. The second incident happened roughly two hours later shortly before 11pm on August 30. Police said a man was standing in front of a bar on Carmichael Road when he was approached by another man armed with a firearm, who shot him before getting into a silver coloured vehicle and speeding away. Paramedics visited the scene and attempted to revive the injured man, but were unsuccessful. He was pronounced dead at the scene. Before those incidents,
a 28-year-old man was killed the day before he was to start a new job at Bahamas Power and Light. Justin Davis was shot and killed on Sunday, August 25, shortly after 10pm. Police said two men were standing in front of a home on Ross Corner when the occupants of a white vehicle opened fire in their direction, hitting one of them before speeding away. “The injured man was transported to hospital and a short time later was pronounced dead,” police said. He was identified by relatives as Justin Davis. Loved ones mourned the death calling him an “easy-going” person as they condemned the country’s increasing violence. A day before Davis was killed, on August 24, two men were shot and killed in the Family Islands -one in Abaco and one in Eleuthera.