On September 1, the eye of category 5 Hurricane Dorian made landfall on the Abaco Islands with maximum sustained winds of 185 mph, making it the strongest hurricane on record to affect the Bahamas, unleashing a storm surge of up to 7.6 meters (25 feet). Hurricane Dorian knocked out the power, water, telecommunications, and sewage service on the Abacos. For several days, Marsh Harbour Airport on Great Abaco was underwater, and the control tower was damaged by the waters. About 90% of the infrastructure in Marsh Harbour was damaged or destroyed. Shantytowns such as The Mudd, housing mostly poor Haitian immigrants, were completely destroyed. In central and northern Abaco, 60% of homes have been damaged or destroyed. The power grid serving the entirety of the Abacos was destroyed. 29,500 people lost homes or jobs, or were temporarily displaced. Some 9,000 homes were damaged and seven schools destroyed, leading to the reassignment of 1,500 displaced students. Damage to tourism facilities is described as “catastrophic.” The total cost of the damage is estimated to amount to US$3.4 billion. Everywhere that we experienced on our wonderful journey has been destroyed of severely damaged…there is very little left.
67 people lost their lives.
Needless to say, our thoughts and prayers are with those who have been affected by this disaster.
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