The Bahamas and the Caribbean Have Withstood Hurricanes for Centuries

Europeans came to the islands unprepared for the destructive storms, even as indigenous people understood their massive power

A hurricane in the West Indies. Line engraving, late 16th century. (Sarin Images/Granger)

By Tristram Korten

The Bahamas were spared this past weekend when Tropical Storm Humberto's 70 mph winds just brushed by the islands. Only two weeks earlier, they were not so fortunate as Hurricane Dorian caused such havoc to the country that the full extent of the damage has yet to be accounted. The Category 5 behemoth rampaged through the upper Bahamas with record-setting windspeeds, then lethally paused its forward motion over Grand Bahama for more than a day, allowing its destructive eyewall to spin in place. The storm's 185 miles-per-hour winds splintered homes and whipped up a storm surge that swallowed the land. An international effort is searching for the 1,300 people (as of this writing) still missing.  Read more >>

A Remote Bahamas Medical Clinic Lost Staff, Power, And Water. It Stayed Open Anyway.

Cooper’s Town Community Clinic in Cooper’s Town, Abaco Island.

By Brianna Sacks

THE BAHAMAS — They’d been hot and sticky for so long they almost forgot what AC felt like, so they blasted it, turning Cooper’s Town Community Clinic on Great Abaco Island into a glorious “ice box.”

Regaining power on Monday was a massive, hard-fought win for a scrappy group of medical volunteers who, for nearly two weeks, have been working nonstop to restore the health center, which not only provides vital medical care but serves as a community gathering point.

“We finally got a massive generator delivered by the Dutch navy yesterday, so we made the entire clinic an ice box,” said Brian Wilson, a team lead with Humanity First’s Disaster Response.  Read more >>

The Bahamas’ Big Need Is Tourists, It Says

A sunbather on a beach in Nassau, Bahamas. The country’s tourism agency is desperate for tourists.CreditCreditAndrew Caballero-Reynolds/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

By Frances Robles

The 700-island nation is in mourning after the devastation of Hurricane Dorian. But with the country dependent upon tourism, travel officials say that many hotels and resorts are open and eager for visitors.  Read more >>

Devastated by Dorian: Photos From the Bahamas

Synobia Reckley holds up the dress her niece wore as a flower girl at her wedding, as she goes through valuables in the rubble of her home, destroyed by Hurricane Dorian, in Rocky Creek East End, Grand Bahama, on September 8, 2019. 

By Alan Taylor

Two weeks have passed since Hurricane Dorian finally moved away from the Bahamas, after pummeling the island nation for days with sustained winds reaching 185 mph (295 kph). The official death toll has reached 50, but hundreds remain listed as missing, and search-and-rescue teams continue to comb through widespread wreckage. Thousands of residents evacuated in the days following the storm, but many remain on the hard-hit islands of the Abacos and Grand Bahama. Bahamian agencies are working with NGOs, foreign governments, and cruise and travel corporations to provide food, water, and supplies to those still in need. Gathered below, images from the past 10 days across the Bahamas, still reeling from disaster.  View photos >>

Prime Minister Minnis announces National Prayer Service, flags to be flown at half mast

By Bahamas Information Services

Prime Minister the Most Hon. Dr. Hubert Minnis has announced plans for a National Prayer Service to honour the lives lost to Hurricane Dorian.

The Government has invited the Bahamas Christian Council to plan the National Prayer Service, which will take place on Wednesday 18 September at Bahamas Faith Ministries International, Carmichael Road, starting at 7pm. The prayer service will mark the culmination of a National Day of Prayer and Fasting.

Baby discovered dying in the rubble in the Bahamas days after Hurricane Dorian

Dr. Gwen DeLeon leaves "The Mudd" with a baby in her lap - she says he would've died if he wasn't found

By Lexi Nahl

MIAMI (CBS12) — More than two weeks after Hurricane Dorian tore through the Bahamas, relief workers and doctors are now returning home with harrowing stories of their rescue missions.

Dr. Gwen DeLeon returned to her regular job as a trauma surgeon at the Aventura Hospital on Monday after spending four days assisting survivors in some of the hardest hit areas in the Abaco Islands.

During one search and rescue mission, the doctor received a tip about a child dying in a shantytown near Marsh Harbour called "The Mudd."

The primarily Haitian neighborhood is mostly evacuated, but Dr. DeLeon says there are some immigrants still living in the destruction who didn't want to be found.  Read more >>

Local pilot aids Bahamas after Dorian

Pilot Shawn Chaney

By Alexandra Mester

Shawn Chaney, a pilot, had seen stories of how private planes were able to quickly mobilize and deliver critical assistance following disasters.

He’d considered helping with relief efforts since the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, but had hoped that day would never come.

“That was kind of always in the back of my mind as something I might do,” he said.

Mr. Chaney, who lives near Clyde, was one of many people from northwest Ohio who have assisted in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian’s devastation in the Bahamas. Earlier this month, he flew four missions from Florida to Great Abaco Island through the nonprofit AERObridge.  Read more >>