Family cling to roof to survive as Dorian toll rises in islands
A MOTHER has described how she thought she was going to drown as she slipped beneath the surging waters brought by Hurricane Dorian.
Lanell Laing, 31, fled her home in High Rock, Grand Bahama, to try to take shelter, but the house in which she took refuge filled with water and she spent the night clinging to a roof with her 10-year-old son, Aaron Turner.
Her story emerged last night as The Daily Telegraph became one of the few newspapers to reach the east of Grand Bahama, one of the worst-hit islands.
The roads – some torn to shreds by gusts of up to 220mph – had been passable for less than 24 hours as the first supplies began to arrive. The community of about 600 were counting their missing, with 14 people believed to have been in their homes when the hurricane hit.
Only one man’s body has been found. He appeared to have been torn from his home, which lay in a pile of rubble.
Seven people are missing from another home destroyed by the storm.
Ms Laing said that, as the water started to pour in, “I grabbed my son and I pushed him up to the ceiling and just told him to hold on. But as soon as I did I started to go under. I thought this is it, I am going to drown.”
Suddenly she was pulled from the water by a neighbour. They are relying on the kindness of friends as they wait for supplies and power to be restored.
Communities further east are unreachable and it is feared that the death toll will be much higher than the official figure of 30. Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are still missing.