Dorian devastation
Family’s flood escape drama as hurricane hits Bahamas
THESE dramatic images show a desperate family trying to swim to safety as Hurricane Dorian hits the devastated Bahamas.
Onlookers shout ‘swim, swim’ and ‘keep going’ as the group of three women, a man and two teenage girls are swept along by the raging floods.
The family members wade through waters choked with rubble and trees torn down by the storm before grabbing on to a rope to reach safety.
The footage was filmed by an ABC news crew, with journalist Marcus Moore describing it as a ‘race against time’.
The video, taken on Sunday as the 220mph Category 5 hurricane hit, comes as the country’s prime minister warned of an ‘historic tragedy’ on the islands.
Five people have been killed – including a boy aged seven – but many more are missing and the death toll is expected to rise.
The United Nations says more than 60,000 people in the northwest Bahamas need food, while the Red Cross warned that 62,000 people need access to clean drinking water. In harrowing phone calls played by local media, stranded residents can be heard saying they are trapped, and begging for help as water levels rise.
One woman gives the call handler her address before saying: ‘I need help. Me and my six grandchildren and my son, we are in the ceiling, the water rising. Nobody wants us to come out and all the neighbours, everybody is in their ceilings. Can someone please come and rescue us, please? The water is rising fast.’
Local authorities admitted that emergency services would not be able to help, with conditions still too dangerous on the islands.
Trapped residents have been told to use hammers to smash their way out and escape using something buoyant.
The city of Freeport on the island of Grand Bahama was under 3ft of water. Prime minister Hubert Minnis said: ‘We are in the midst of a historic tragedy’, adding that the devastation was ‘unprecedented and extensive’. Photographs of the Freeport hospital show people wading through water and beds floating, and the island’s international airport was under more than 6ft of water.
One resident sheltered 97 dogs in her home. Chella Phillips said: ‘I just want these dogs to be safe’, adding that 79 animals were in her bedroom. The hurricane is due to reach the US today. Although it decreased in intensity after lingering over the Bahamas, authorities warned of flash flooding along the coast, ‘life-threatening’ waves and ‘dangerous’ winds.
In Florida, one man died while preparing his home for the hurricane’s arrival. David Bradley, 68, fell three storeys from a ladder as he tried to board up his windows.
Donald Trump, who cancelled a trip to Poland to be in the US when the hurricane hit, was criticised for playing a round of golf on Monday. London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who was himself in Poland, said of the President’s absence: ‘He’s clearly busy dealing with a hurricane out on the golf course.’
Mr Trump hit back, writing on Twitter: ‘The incompetent Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, was bothered that I played a very fast round of golf yesterday. Khan should focus on knife crime, which is totally out of control in London. He is a terrible mayor who should stay out of our business.’
Last night the Queen, who is also the head of state of the Bahamas, said she was ‘shocked and saddened’ by the devastation.