This is mostly for those of you who don’t “do” Facebook & the other social media sites. Just heard from Christine Russell in the Fortune Bay area. They say it is sunny and humid with 30+ temp. There is no power or water service as yet and there appears to be little damage to houses, mostly gardens & trees. The storm lasted 44 hours, and dumped more than 24 inches of rain according to the government.
The storm surge was deepest from the north, over 30 feet in some areas. Queens Highway and other major roads downtown remain flooded. And areas adjacent to and going east from the Grand Lucayan Waterway are still flooded. The new bridge has been damaged by debris and the Casuarina bridge is apparently not yet passable. Rescue efforts have been underway on Grand Bahama since yesterday. It appears to be a combination of the official services – police, fire, paramedics, Grand Bahama Defence Force – and individual volunteers who are using small boats, jet skis in the areas that are unreachable because of flooded roads.
Folks are being taken to churches and other central points and ZNS says, the Grand Lucayan and other hotels are being opened up as emergency shelter. The Castaways took in people off the street during the storm. The Royal Navy auxiliary ship RF Mounts Bay is due to arrive today according to CNN. It carries a helicopter, transport and building equipment, and aid supplies. It appears from photos there is less wind damage on Grand Bahama compared with Abaco, where some neighbourhoods are flattened. Bahamas Evac & the US Coast Guard are helping with the rescue effort on there, the injured being taken to Nassau.
On Grand Bahama, the Sunrise Medical Centre remained dry through the storm and is providing emergency service until the Rand is back up and running according to www.medpagetoday.com It is still unclear where the patients evacuated from the Rand because of flooding were taken. On Abaco, the Marsh Harbour hospital remained intact during the storm. The photos below are all from various online sources, all of Grand Bahama, taken over the last day.
