As Shock Wears Off, Mental Health Concerns Grow In Bahamas

HIGH ROCK, Grand Bahama (AP) — One woman and her husband huddled on top of a bedroom dresser for two days, surrounded by floodwaters.

Another man sat in his wheelchair for nearly 48 hours in water up to his chest, alone in his home.

A third rescued a friend who sat in shock when part of a building where they sought shelter blew away.

Stories of survival are trickling out across northern Bahamas as the initial shock wears off from Hurricane Dorian, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in history.

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But even as some Bahamians were still in survival mode, others were slowly beginning to understand the extent of the storm’s devastation.

Mental health counselors are now fanning out into communities to help those traumatized by the direct hit of the Category 5 storm that forced the evacuation of nearly 5,000 people and killed at least 50 others. Some 1,300 still missing in the hard-hit islands of Grand Bahama and Abaco, although the government has said many could be in shelters and with loved ones.

“I think some persons can’t believe that it happened, and others are still processing it,” said Pastor Robert Lockhart of Calvary Temple in Grand Bahama.

Source: As Shock Wears Off, Mental Health Concerns Grow In Bahamas