GENEVA: 76,000 people and more in dire need of food and other aid in the Bahamas after the Caribbean nation was devastated by Hurricane Dorian, the UN´s World Food Programme said on Thursday, with eight tonnes of supplies ready to arrive.
“WFP has purchased 8 tons of ready to eat meals and is arranging their transportation to the Bahamas to be distributed to the affected population,” said Herve Verhoosel, senior WFP spokesman.
Dorian was a Category 5 hurricane — the highest on the five-level wind scale — when it hit the northern Bahamas, devastated the small island, and at least 30 residents lost their lives.
The cyclone hit the Carribean island as a category 5 hurricane with winds reaching 185mph, matching the highest ever recorded at landfall, and stayed over affected areas for two days.
The International Red Cross fears around 45% of homes on Grand Bahama and the Abacos, some 13,000 properties, were severely damaged or destroyed. The Island of Great Abaco is virtually unlivable, with bodies piled up, no water, power or food, and militias formed to prevent looting, local media report.
Where is Dorian Now?
The US National Hurricane Center said in an advisory that Dorian would continue to move near or over the coast of North Carolina on Friday night and Saturday. It is expecting as much as 38cm of rain to fall on the Carolinas, with flash-flooding likely.
“The US states of North and South Carolina are at risk of dangerous storm surges on Friday before the hurricane moves towards Nova Scotia at the weekend”, states BBC
