Victims frozen in final moments
The body of one man was found holding his son
In the rubble that was once the most densely populated neighbourhood on Great Abaco Island, the only sound was the groan of the newly arrived bulldozer, crushing glass and wood as it inched closer to the bodies.
“We found five under the debris,” reported Joseph Hillhouse, an assistant fire chief from Gainesville, Florida. “Now we’re waiting for help to get them out.”
It was a week after Hurricane Dorian made landfall in the Bahamas, and efforts to rescue survivors had given way to the slow, grim work of seeking the dead.
The reports came in from family members and neighbours. The body of one man was found clutching his son. Another was entangled on a fence. Another was halfway through a door, frozen in a futile attempt at escaping the most powerful storm ever to assault this island nation.
With each new lead, teams of American and Bahamian
recovery workers lumbered forward into the debris, wearing white hazmat suits and masks. There were a few dozen workers now, not nearly enough to conduct an effective search of the comprehensive destruction.
The Mudd and Peas, among the poorest neighbourhoods on Great Abaco, were flattened last week by the Category 5 hurricane. A search of less than one-tenth of the area yielded five bodies. “Based on our experience so far,” Hillhouse said, “I’d say there are a lot more.”
The local morgue has been overwhelmed with bodies. Workers have resorted to storing the surplus bodies in a refrigerated container.
The Bahamian Government has been slow to raise its official death toll, which stood yesterday at 45. Local media have suggested a final count in the thousands. Duane Sands, the country’s Health Minister, said: “I don’t know and have been reluctant to put a range of expected deaths out there . . . It’s likely to be a significant and unimaginable toll.”
He added: “Teams are focused on fundamental issues of getting food, water, shelter, clothing and comfort to the people. While it is critically important to find everybody who perished, it is more important right now to find those that have survived and make sure nobody else perishes.”