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Hurricane Dorian Situation Report #14 (October 15, 2019)

Countries
Bahamas
Sources
IMC
Publication date

FAST FACTS

• The Royal Bahamas Police Force confirmed the death toll at 61 as of Friday,
October 11. Recovery efforts are ongoing, and the number of fatalities is expected to rise.

• International Medical Corps conducted “Training of Trainers” sessions from October 8–11 that trained 30 participants in health, WASH and MHPSS.

• Since the beginning of the response until October 14, International Medical Corps has provided 808 patient consultations in all supported clinics.

SITUATION UPDATE

More than a month-and-a-half has passed since Hurricane Dorian slammed into Grand Bahama and Abaco islands with wind speeds of 180 mph and gusts of up to 220 mph, making it the northern Atlantic’s the second-strongest hurricane in modern records. Satellite imagery indicated that more than three-quarters of homes between High Rock, in the middle of Grand Bahama, and Sweetings Cay, in the very east of the island, have been destroyed.

As of Friday, October 11, the Royal Bahamas Police Force confirmed the death toll at 61. Recovery efforts are ongoing, but with hundreds still missing, the number of fatalities is expected to continue to rise. More than 875 missing people have been found; this number is expected to change as the list of missing persons is cross-checked against shelter lists and other records of displaced individuals.

Conditions are slowly returning to normal on Grand Bahama. Most schools are expected to reopen on Tuesday, October 15, though due to the low number of schoolchildren in the community—in one case, a school that is typically attended by 1,000 students will have fewer than 500 attending—mold-remediation work will continue in the schools while students return to class.

The Public Hospitals Authority (PHA) mental health team continues to provide services to the population, despite being without two of their regular psychiatrists. They have requested help to support the current staff in meeting the growing mental health needs of the population. International Medical Corps has partnered with the PHA and Bahamian Ministry of Health (MoH) to provide mental health and psychosocial support on Grand Bahama.