Silence, devastation mark Bahamas town
MARSH HARBOUR, Bahamas — The streets are filled with smashed cars, snapped power cables, shattered trees and deep silence.
At the airport and dock, hundreds of people clamor for seats on airplanes and berths on ships arriving with aid and departing with people who lost their homes when deadly Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas.
Nearly a week after disaster roared in from the sea, the rest of Marsh Harbour on Abaco island felt empty Saturday. A hot wind whistled through stands of decapitated pine trees and homes that collapsed during the most powerful hurricane in the northwestern Bahamas' recorded history.
Rescue teams were still trying to reach some Bahamian communities isolated by floodwaters and debris after the disaster that killed at least 43 people. Prime Minister Hubert Minnis says 35 people died on Abaco and eight on Grand Bahama island.
The U.S. Coast Guard said it has rescued a total of 290 people in the northern Bahamas following the hurricane. Six MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters and nine cutters are helping in the aid effort, the Coast Guard said.
With so much air traffic, Bahamaian officials banned non- aid flights over Grand Bahama and Abaco Islands. The National Emergency Management agency also threatened to revoke flight permission from any pilots charging fees to evacuate people from the islands.
Meanwhile, the United Nations said eight tons of food supplies were on the way by ship. Some 14,700 ready-to-eat meals as well as logistical and telecommunications equipment are being delivered, said Herve Verhoosel, spokesman for the U.N. World Food Program.
No official figures were available, but much of the population of Marsh Harbour, home to most of the roughly 20,000 residents of Abaco, seemed to have already left. Many were staying with relatives in the capital, Nassau, others with family in Florida and other parts of the United States.