Bodies Floating In Water After Hurricane Dorian Hits Bahamas

Dorian initially developed from a tropical wave in the Central Atlantic on August twenty-fourth last week. Since then, however, it has grown into an extremely powerful tropical cyclone and is currently causing widespread flooding and destruction to the Bahamas.

But what exactly is a Category 5 hurricane? Well, even our president doesn’t quite know the answer to that. President Trump unbelievably revealed his confusion over the storm, despite 4 of them having threatened the U.S. during his presidency.  

“We don’t even know what’s coming at us. All we know is it’s possibly the biggest. I have – I’m not sure that I’ve ever even heard of a Category 5. I knew it existed. And I’ve seen some Category 4’s – you don’t even see them that much.” “But a Category 5 is something that – I don’t know that I’ve ever even heard the term other than I know it’s there. That’s the ultimate, and that’s what we have, unfortunately.”

For your information, and the president’s, the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale classifies hurricanes by the intensity of their sustained winds. Category 5 is the highest classification on the scale, and only storms of wind gusts of at least 156 mph can be classed in this category.

Being a Category 5 hurricane, Dorian has gathered up wind gusts of up to 200 mph across the Carribean – more powerful than any other type of hurricane in existence.    

The storm first hit Abacos as a Category 2 storm but has gradually moved across the Bahamas, all while being bumped up to Category 4 by The National Hurricane Center in mere days. And the damage is staggering. Roofs have been ripped off, cars overturned, and power lines pulled from the ground as thousands of people sheltered in schools, churches, and hurricane shelters. It has now come to a standstill over Grand Bahama Island, but is expected to move onwards today.

Quite worrying considering our president doesn’t have a clue what it is, don’t you think? Hurricane Dorian is stampeding right towards the path of Florida’s peninsula, and today is the critical day that is likely to determine whether the state is dealt a powerful blow or a less intense scrape.

And its arrival is expected somewhere between the Florida Keys and southern Georgia.

“Although it remains uncertain just how close the eye of Dorian will get to the Florida east coast, the threat of damaging winds and life-threatening storm surge remains high,” the National Weather Service office in Melbourne wrote. “There will be considerable impacts and damage to coastal areas, with at least some effects felt inland as well!”

Serious storm effects are likely in coastal Georgia and the Carolinas in the middle and latter half of the week as Dorian picks up speed and heads north.

President Trump on Friday approved an emergency declaration for Florida and “ordered Federal assistance to supplement State, tribal, and local response efforts due to the emergency conditions resulting from Hurricane Dorian,” the White House has said.

Roughly 540,000 people live on the state’s 100-mile coast. Areas that are facing evacuation include parts of Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Glynn, Liberty, and McIntosh counties. It is estimated that up to 1.5 million people could be ordered to flee the U.S. coastline in the next couple of days.    

Gov. Ron DeSantis has urged residents to “make preparations” for a 7-day power outage after issuing a state of emergency for all sixty-seven counties.

“I think a lot of Floridians are heeding the advice because they see that the storm could be really powerful, potentially a major impact,” DeSantis told Fox News. He also said that Florida has millions of gallons of water for distribution and FEMA is prepared to distribute water as well.

And big companies are working hard in order to prepare Flordia for the impact of the storm. “We’re also working with companies like Publix and Walmart to get those shelves restocked because we know that’s important,” DeSantis said.  

Sadly, not everyone who experienced Dorian’s wrath in the Bahamas was able to prepare for the storm in time.

This morning, following on from horrifying footage of the storm, the Bahamas Press reported that a boy, aged only 7, was the first person known to have died in the hurricane.    

Tragically, while his family was attempting to leave their home in Abacos, little Lachino was dragged away in the ferocious currents, and subsequently drowned.

And his family are still attempting to locate their child and their home, The Bahama Press has reported.

But, with the ferocious winds and deadly floods, the death toll is continuing to rise.

The Bahamas Prime Minister, Hubert Minnis, confirmed yesterday that 5 more deaths and twenty-one injuries occurred on the hard-hit Abaco Islands.

Though it was downgraded from a Category 5 to a Category 4 storm last night, Dorian has caused terrifying tsunamis, which have subsequently brought on deep flooding with strong currents. And, as of last night, the ZNS Bahamas reported that a storm surge would cause water to rise eighteen feet to twenty-three feet above normal tide levels.

Foreign Affairs and North Abaco MP, Darren Henfield, said yesterday: “We have reports of casualties. We have reports of bodies being seen. But we cannot confirm those reports until we go out and have a look for ourselves.”

Even though many of the houses have been completely destroyed in the storm.
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“Power lines are down, lamp posts are down, trees are across the street – it is very dangerous to be outdoors if you don’t have to be outdoors,” Henfield continued.
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As soon as the weather permits, first responders will go to those areas where we have reports from individuals who were in distress.”

The storm has been predicted to come “dangerously close” to the U.S. seaboard from now through to Wednesday evening, but it’s still too soon to say how close and when or where it’ll make landfall.