GRAND BAHAMA, Bahamas (AP) — Tanya Fox ignored evacuation warnings three years ago when Hurricane Matthew pummeled the Bahamas _ and survived in a nearby hotel. So when Dorian threatened, she again decided to ride out the monster storm.
She was convinced she would remain safe, she said. “Until I saw that it turned into a (Category) 5.”
Or “Category Hell,” as the United Nations chief later described it.
Fox had never called anywhere but Grand Bahama home and she certainly didn’t want to abandon it, even as the storm raged north across the Atlantic. She stacked sandbags around her door and again, fled to a nearby hotel.
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This time, she would not be so lucky.
Dorian mustered massive strength over warm waters and lashed the Bahamas for almost 40 hours. It struck the Abaco Islands on September 1, slowly churned west to hit Grand Bahama and then stalled for a day, compounding the misery. The winds howled and gusted at up to 220 miles an hour. The ocean roared ashore and swelled 20 feet high.
Whatever hope Fox had harbored turned to utter fear.
Dorian left a calamitous trail of destruction in the Bahamas; at ground zero lay the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama.
The government has reported 56 deaths, though it’s widely believed the toll may be significantly higher. More than 600 people are still listed as missing, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis told the United Nations Friday.
Some risk modeling estimates put the Bahamas’ overall hurricane losses as high as $7 billion. More than 13,000 homes were destroyed.
Source: Bahama residents struggle to start over after Dorian’s devastation
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