Hurricane Dorian devastated the Bahamas after becoming the most intense tropical cyclone to ever hit the island. The Atlantic hurricane which reached Category 5 status took place from August 24th through September 10th in 2019 and is referred to as the worst natural disaster to ever hit the country. The powerful storm built itself up rapidly initially beginning as a tropical wave. After only a few days the wave intensified itself into its peak high of Category 5 status, the highest classification on the Saffir-Simpson scale, powering through everything in its path with one-minute sustained winds of 185 mph. Due to the prolonged nature and powerful storm surge the natural disaster destroyed thousands of homes in its path leaving many residents displaced and in worse cases severely injured or dead.
While there’s no way of knowing exactly how much the damage cost the island, it is the costliest disaster in Bahamian history by far ranging close to $3.4 billion in damages, according to CNBC. Although not only affecting the Bahamas the storm did make the most economic impact for insurance companies in the island paradise out of all the places it happened to cross paths with. Wind damages were most prevalent as Dorian happened to remain off the eastern coast of Florida for approximately two full days where it continued to lash out on the Bahamas with deadly force. Residential, commercial, and industrial properties were all equally affected and there was truly no way of escaping the damage. Living expenses skyrocketed for many Bahamians as many couldn’t afford the high insurance premiums for their belongings during the recovery process.
Local boat captain, Hendricks McIntosh shared how despite the devastating blow the experience is helping the community of the Bahamas come together to be stronger than ever before. “We say in the next three years or so Abaco will have a lot of infrastructures put in place for the island to get back to about five percent allowing tourists to begin coming back in,” said McIntosh. “In Freeport they’ve really been back to business as usual. It's just that a lot of people had their homes damaged leaving them displaced. A lot of people have had to come to Nassau, what we call New Providence, for jobs and to live with family members.”
After the storm had passed many Bahamians began to flee Great Abaco, Grand Bahama, and Freeport in any way they could. Initially only traveling by boats and planes, major cruise lines also decided to lend a helping hand donating some of their ships to help transport those displaced by the damage to Nassau and Florida. “We had two of the major islands that were destroyed, a terrible disaster happened, but for the most part we’re rebuilding back and we’re moving pretty swiftly because of the help we got from neighboring countries like the U.S. and other areas of the Caribbean along with celebrity fundraisers and different cruise lines who donated millions towards everything that's happening,” said Jolecia Rahming, an employee for the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism.
Recounting the desperation of the initial storm she remembers evacuees who were begging to board free transport trips in any way they could. Traveling with only the clothes on their backs and their family members they were “just looking for a way out” she shared. As storm surges continued to swallow entire neighborhoods residents were desperate to travel to safer areas fearing for their lives as meteorologists struggled to determine whether the storm would hit the island again due to its unprecedented slow speed.
It’s been months since its initial hit but many individuals are still reported missing potentially never to be heard from again. The official death toll stands at only 43, according to the Washington Post and NBC. Injuries skyrocketed as many victims suffered from fractures, head injuries, lacerations, skin rashes, and dehydration. Those that chose to remain in the ruins became at high risk for diarrhea and waterborne diseases as much of the drinking water became contaminated with sewage. The loss of life wasn’t something taken lightly by the people as eight individuals were confirmed to be from Grand Bahama and 35 were residents of the Abaco Islands, according to officials in the Bahamas.
Dorian made an impact on the Bahamas that will have them recovering for years due to its large size and slow speeds. Meteorologists were trying to anticipate where it would make landfall in the U.S. as it appeared it was going to make a huge impact on Florida, but they never expected for a storm of Dorian’s intensity to practically freeze over such highly populated areas in the Bahamas for such a long period of time. The steering flow that pushed the hurricane along happened to fall apart at the same time the storm landed over the Bahamas intensifying the damage the island paradise was already set to receive. As one of the first storms of it’s kind Dorian’s snail-like pace has been predicted to be in line with expected changes surrounding atmospheric circulation due to the rise of global average temperatures.
Despite nationwide coverage one of the biggest misconceptions about Dorian’s impact was how much it affected Nassau. While the main island did experience some of the adverse weather effects it sustained minimal damage overall. The misconceptions have left many residents pleading with tourists to still consider taking a vacation as the island hasn’t halted any operations. “Tourism is the number one industry in the Bahamas and a lot of people, that’s how they feed their families, means of work, that’s how we get by,” Rahming explained. “Taking a vacation still helps the economy and provides help to those that were actually affected. Some of us were not but the money that were getting we’re still donating portions of it towards the development of the islands.”
While unexpected and very unprepared for it, locals are making the best of a difficult situation and inviting tourists to continue to visit their hometown. Embracing resilience and positivity as they continue to recover is just a part of their way of life. According to McIntosh, “If we don’t have the tourists to come over, to spend and buy from the local straw markets then our economy will suffer. We have families to feed, we have bills to pay, and people won’t make any money. It’s hard when you don’t have a steady income so we want to say thanks to you guys for coming over and patronizing the Bahamian way of life.”
As developments continue throughout the Bahamas, many which are set to be completed as late as 2022, the community who hasn’t backed down, is what makes this island truly special. Natural disasters aren’t something ever desired but the way the community has picked itself back up in a united front is inspiring to see. While they still have a long way to go the locals are using this disaster as a learning experience to build safer infrastructures for their people. These infrastructures will prepare them to be stronger against any future storms that may head their way and it’s something many other Caribbean countries have started to consider emulating prior to the next hurricane season getting underway.