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| ‘A Disastrous Outcome’: In Bahamas, Hurricane Cripples Rescue Efforts | ‘A Disastrous Outcome’: In Bahamas, Hurricane Cripples Rescue Efforts |
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| NASSAU, Bahamas — Desperate residents stranded on rooftops amid swirling currents. Rescue efforts stalled by flooded vehicles and roads turned to rivers. Communications in ruins and basic infrastructure — including shelters, hospitals and public buildings — under water. | NASSAU, Bahamas — Desperate residents stranded on rooftops amid swirling currents. Rescue efforts stalled by flooded vehicles and roads turned to rivers. Communications in ruins and basic infrastructure — including shelters, hospitals and public buildings — under water. |
| And all around, vicious winds and crashing waves brought on by Hurricane Dorian, one of the most powerful storms recorded in the Atlantic, whipped the low-lying islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama in the northwestern Bahamas for a second day on Tuesday. | |
| Entire neighborhoods were reduced to unrecognizable fields of rubble, houses were crushed into splinters and boats were tossed into heaps like toys, video from a helicopter flyover showed. About 60 percent of Grand Bahama was under water, the satellite company Iceye said Monday. That includes the airport. All around, massive waves curled toward the island, delivering new blows. | |
| The true extent of Dorian’s toll was only beginning to emerge as the storm began to pull away. | |
| “It’s not just the power and ferocity of the storm, it’s also the length of time it spent over Abaco and Grand Bahama,” said Marvin Dames, the minister of national security for the Bahamas. “That’s a disastrous outcome.” | |
| Seven people have died in Abaco, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said at an evening news conference, although the toll was expected to climb. Children were among those killed, Mr. Dames had said earlier. | |
| [How to help the survivors of Hurricane Dorian.] | [How to help the survivors of Hurricane Dorian.] |
| Hurricane Dorian first made landfall in the Bahamas as a category 5 storm on Sunday, but then it lingered, pummeling Grand Bahama and Abaco Islands, blocking even a basic accounting of the number of victims and the destruction. | |
| Cindy Russell, a resident of Marsh Harbour whose home was destroyed, said she had no words to describe what Dorian left in its wake. | Cindy Russell, a resident of Marsh Harbour whose home was destroyed, said she had no words to describe what Dorian left in its wake. |
| “It’s like we just need to be rescued and put on another island to start over again,” she said. “Complete devastation.” | “It’s like we just need to be rescued and put on another island to start over again,” she said. “Complete devastation.” |
| Though the hurricane, now a category 2, was pushing its way toward Florida, it was not expected to clear the islands until early Wednesday. | |
| “Storm surge is the number one killer in a tropical storm,” said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, speaking of the rising of the sea that results from the wind and pressure changes brought on by a storm. | “Storm surge is the number one killer in a tropical storm,” said Dennis Feltgen, a meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, speaking of the rising of the sea that results from the wind and pressure changes brought on by a storm. |
| In Freeport, the largest city on Grand Bahama, Sarah Kirkby watched helplessly as a massive tidal flood poured in and inundated her house. | |
| “It was absolutely terrifying,” she said. “I have never seen water come in like that. You don’t realize the power until you’re in it.” | “It was absolutely terrifying,” she said. “I have never seen water come in like that. You don’t realize the power until you’re in it.” |
| Some local rescue efforts began on Tuesday, she said, as the water began to recede, with neighbors manning Jet Skis to rescue people trapped on their roofs — but it was unclear where they might go, since many shelters were also flooded or damaged by the storm. | Some local rescue efforts began on Tuesday, she said, as the water began to recede, with neighbors manning Jet Skis to rescue people trapped on their roofs — but it was unclear where they might go, since many shelters were also flooded or damaged by the storm. |
| Aid agencies that were staged in Nassau, the capital of the Bahamas, grew frustrated through the day, waiting on standby to deliver desperately needed supplies. Few helicopters were able to take off for the hardest-hit areas because of high winds, low visibility and limited space. | |
| “There’s an overabundance of people to help,” said William M. Holowesko, general manager of Odyssey Aviation in Nassau, which became a de facto staging ground for relief flights Tuesday.” So there is that pent-up frustration on many different fronts.” | “There’s an overabundance of people to help,” said William M. Holowesko, general manager of Odyssey Aviation in Nassau, which became a de facto staging ground for relief flights Tuesday.” So there is that pent-up frustration on many different fronts.” |
| American government helicopter crews — mainly from the United States Coast Guard but also from Customs and Border Protection — have been conducting evacuation missions. | American government helicopter crews — mainly from the United States Coast Guard but also from Customs and Border Protection — have been conducting evacuation missions. |
| All of the rescues on Abaco were conducted by the Coast Guard, which also provided the prime minister and Bahamas emergency management officials with their first flyover to assess the damages. But conditions on Grand Bahama were so poor that even the military helicopters were forced to turn back, so no rescues were attempted there. | |
| Coast Guard Rear Adm. Todd Sokalzuk said officials still had a “large volume” of calls for help from people stranded on their rooftops. | |
| [Live updates as the storm turns toward the southeast coast of the United States.] | |
| Responders were trying to take advantage of a window of opportunity after the eye passed over Grand Bahama to try to rescue people, but many police cruisers and other emergency vehicles were under water. | Responders were trying to take advantage of a window of opportunity after the eye passed over Grand Bahama to try to rescue people, but many police cruisers and other emergency vehicles were under water. |
| “Some of the bigger vehicles, dump trucks and fire engines, are trying to get through the water,” Kevin D. Harris, director general of the Bahamas Information Service, said. “Grand Bahama is flat, and you can imagine the devastation we are going to incur.” | “Some of the bigger vehicles, dump trucks and fire engines, are trying to get through the water,” Kevin D. Harris, director general of the Bahamas Information Service, said. “Grand Bahama is flat, and you can imagine the devastation we are going to incur.” |
| There was so much water that government offices, including the government radio station, had to leave the lower floors. | There was so much water that government offices, including the government radio station, had to leave the lower floors. |
| The islands in the northwestern Bahamas that were hit the hardest — the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama — are 30 feet at their highest point, and the storm surge reached up to 23 feet, not counting the waves, said Joel Cline, the Tropical Program Coordinator at NOAA. | The islands in the northwestern Bahamas that were hit the hardest — the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama — are 30 feet at their highest point, and the storm surge reached up to 23 feet, not counting the waves, said Joel Cline, the Tropical Program Coordinator at NOAA. |
| Photographs from flights over Abaco show trees sheared of limbs and leaves and saltwater ponds covering swaths of land where homes once stood. Some houses had their roofs ripped clean off, while others were reduced to piles of debris mired in water. All around, a rough ocean lapped at the low-lying islands. | |
| On Tuesday, people continued to seek shelter at the Grand Lucayan Resort and Casino on Grand Bahama, said Michael Scott, who is the chairman of the government-owned hotel. | On Tuesday, people continued to seek shelter at the Grand Lucayan Resort and Casino on Grand Bahama, said Michael Scott, who is the chairman of the government-owned hotel. |
| “It’s a catastrophic and dystopian mess,” he said, estimating that more than 400 people were now being cared for at the hotel. “Other shelters which have been compromised are having their people decanted into our facility.” | “It’s a catastrophic and dystopian mess,” he said, estimating that more than 400 people were now being cared for at the hotel. “Other shelters which have been compromised are having their people decanted into our facility.” |
| To bring more people to safety, he said, “we’re going to have to use big trucks and big vehicles.” | To bring more people to safety, he said, “we’re going to have to use big trucks and big vehicles.” |
| Passenger cars and even emergency service vehicles had been trapped by the floods, according to photos and videos shared by text message from residents on the island. | Passenger cars and even emergency service vehicles had been trapped by the floods, according to photos and videos shared by text message from residents on the island. |
| On the Abaco Islands, east of Grand Bahama, officials believe whole towns have been wiped out. The area, whose population includes Haitian migrants living in shantytowns like the Mudd and Pigeon Peas, is especially vulnerable. The Mudd was “decimated,” the prime minister said Tuesday night. | |
| Caribbean disaster response managers say that they may not be able to get any firsthand information out of the islands until Wednesday. | Caribbean disaster response managers say that they may not be able to get any firsthand information out of the islands until Wednesday. |
| The Bahamas are no stranger to hurricanes. But Dorian, with sustained wind speeds of 185 miles per hour, ranks as one of the strongest to ever make landfall, tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. | The Bahamas are no stranger to hurricanes. But Dorian, with sustained wind speeds of 185 miles per hour, ranks as one of the strongest to ever make landfall, tied with the 1935 Labor Day hurricane. |
| The powerful storm’s sluggish pace — it crawled over the island at about 1 mile per hour from Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning — ensured steady, brutal destruction, with harrowing images of residents among the ruins of their homes surfacing on social media. | The powerful storm’s sluggish pace — it crawled over the island at about 1 mile per hour from Monday afternoon to Tuesday morning — ensured steady, brutal destruction, with harrowing images of residents among the ruins of their homes surfacing on social media. |
| More than 200 people have placed frantic rescue calls to emergency officials, including a government minister, who was also trapped with his family in his own attic. | More than 200 people have placed frantic rescue calls to emergency officials, including a government minister, who was also trapped with his family in his own attic. |
| It is not unheard-of for storms to stall. Hurricane Betsy stalled for a day and a half off the coast of Florida in 1965. More recently, Hurricane Mitch devastated Central America in 1998 and Hurricane Wilma lingered off the coast of Cancun in 2005, according to Mr. Feltgen, of the National Hurricane Center. | It is not unheard-of for storms to stall. Hurricane Betsy stalled for a day and a half off the coast of Florida in 1965. More recently, Hurricane Mitch devastated Central America in 1998 and Hurricane Wilma lingered off the coast of Cancun in 2005, according to Mr. Feltgen, of the National Hurricane Center. |
| “Storms stall, they’re steered by the weather pattern that surrounds them, so if that weather pattern is in equilibrium, then the storm will stop,” he said. “It’s an atmospheric tug of war.” | “Storms stall, they’re steered by the weather pattern that surrounds them, so if that weather pattern is in equilibrium, then the storm will stop,” he said. “It’s an atmospheric tug of war.” |
| A sense of unity bound those suffering under the weight of the hurricane. Some in the Bahamas who were less affected by the storm took to social media to amplify the calls for help. | A sense of unity bound those suffering under the weight of the hurricane. Some in the Bahamas who were less affected by the storm took to social media to amplify the calls for help. |
| Crystal A. deGregory, a historian in Nashville, Tenn., was visiting her family in Freeport when Hurricane Dorian made landfall. She spent all of Monday fielding frantic calls for rescue from her relatives. | Crystal A. deGregory, a historian in Nashville, Tenn., was visiting her family in Freeport when Hurricane Dorian made landfall. She spent all of Monday fielding frantic calls for rescue from her relatives. |
| Her sister, cornered by rising water, children in tow, cried for help on social media. Ms. deGregory began to post as well, offering addresses and details to rescuers on Twitter. | Her sister, cornered by rising water, children in tow, cried for help on social media. Ms. deGregory began to post as well, offering addresses and details to rescuers on Twitter. |
| “I was terrified,” she said. “It was an indescribable feeling.” | “I was terrified,” she said. “It was an indescribable feeling.” |
| On Tuesday, many residents faced the terrifying choice between staying in their rapidly-flooding homes or plunging into the volatile waters to seek shelter. | On Tuesday, many residents faced the terrifying choice between staying in their rapidly-flooding homes or plunging into the volatile waters to seek shelter. |
| Tim Aylen, a Grand Bahama resident, waded through chest-deep storm surges with his wife and young son, spurred on by fear and horror. He barely had time to make the decision to flee. | Tim Aylen, a Grand Bahama resident, waded through chest-deep storm surges with his wife and young son, spurred on by fear and horror. He barely had time to make the decision to flee. |
| “You open the door, and the water’s just pouring in,” he said. “You think, ‘No, that’s going to flood the house.’” | “You open the door, and the water’s just pouring in,” he said. “You think, ‘No, that’s going to flood the house.’” |
| In that frantic moment, he made the call to leave the house, rather than flee to the attic. With their belongings in bags, his family and their three dogs forded the rushing water. | In that frantic moment, he made the call to leave the house, rather than flee to the attic. With their belongings in bags, his family and their three dogs forded the rushing water. |
| “We have experienced a lot of hurricanes in our time, but nothing like this,” he said. | “We have experienced a lot of hurricanes in our time, but nothing like this,” he said. |
| Mr. Aylen said that once his family was secured in a nearby shelter, he assisted with the search and rescue of people torn from their homes. | Mr. Aylen said that once his family was secured in a nearby shelter, he assisted with the search and rescue of people torn from their homes. |
| “This little girl, she just jumped into my arms and she was screaming,” he recalled. | “This little girl, she just jumped into my arms and she was screaming,” he recalled. |
| Sam Teicher, an American who moved to Grand Bahama Island 18 months ago to set up a coral farm saw his project destroyed by the storm. It was meant to restore dying reefs near the island. | Sam Teicher, an American who moved to Grand Bahama Island 18 months ago to set up a coral farm saw his project destroyed by the storm. It was meant to restore dying reefs near the island. |
| On Tuesday Mr. Teicher saw firsthand the wreckage left by Dorian. | On Tuesday Mr. Teicher saw firsthand the wreckage left by Dorian. |
| “The water seemed to stretch for miles,” Mr. Teicher said. “It was kind of like looking at those scenes of bayous with the trees coming out of the swamp — except that’s where people live.” | “The water seemed to stretch for miles,” Mr. Teicher said. “It was kind of like looking at those scenes of bayous with the trees coming out of the swamp — except that’s where people live.” |