Poitier family has 23 missing in the Bahamas
At least 23 of Sidney Poitier’s family members are feared missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian, the actor’s nephew has said.
Jeffrey Poitier, 66, said his sister Barbara and his adult children were among relatives they were awaiting news from in Freeport, Bahamas.
The family is one of hundreds scrambling to locate their loved ones a week after the category 5 hurricane wreaked devastation across the islands.
In some cases entire families were missing.
‘‘We still couldn’t find any, nor have we heard from them,’’ Mr Poitier said late last week. ‘‘We are still looking for and waiting for them to appear soon. It has us all worried. We are trying to reach out to them using every means available to us but we are not hearing anything. We are deeply worried.’’
More than 500 Bahamians belong to the extended family of Sidney Poitier, the 92-year-old acclaimed actor who was born in Miami to Bahamian parents and who grew up in the Bahamas.
Up to 70,000 people have been left homeless while Great Abaco is said to be virtually uninhabitable with bodies piled up and witnesses reporting the ‘‘smell of death’’ caused by corpses.
The official death toll last night stood at 35 to 42 in the Abaco Islands and eight in Grand Bahama – but Hubert Minnis, the prime minister, warned that was likely to climb ‘‘significantly’’.
The scramble to escape the worst-hit islands continued yesterday as some residents complained that their government was nowhere to be seen.
The British Ministry of Defence this weekend announced it would send a second Royal Navy ship, HMS Protector, which will set sail from Bermuda today, to assist in disaster relief efforts.
The team from RFA Mounts Bay, stationed in the Caribbean for the hurricane season, was among the first responders after Dorian passed.
Commanding officer Captain Rob Anders said: ‘‘Certainly the teams on the ground were very, very shocked. They say the devastation is severe and in many cases the worst they have seen.’’
As well as shelter kits, food and water, they have deployed equipment to clear roads and teams have been staying on the ground to assist the locals. ‘‘It is safe to say we have been quite busy,’’ said Capt Anders.
Government and private planes, helicopters, boats and ships – including cruise liners – converged on the Abacos to help with evacuations.
The Coast Guard said all Bahamian ports had reopened and it had sent nine cutters to the islands. Six of its MH-60 Jayhawk helicopters have so far rescued 290 people.
More than 260 Abacos residents arrived on Saturday in Nassau on a government chartered ferry, the first wave to be evacuated.
However, the prime minister warned that not all Abaco residents can be accommodated in Nassau.
Chamika Durosier, who was waiting at the airport to escape on Sunday, said: ‘‘People have no food. People have no water, and it’s not right. They should have been gone.
‘‘Dead bodies are still around and it’s not sanitary.’’
– Telegraph Group