Dorian toll in Bahamas reaches 30

Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas on September 1 with winds of up to 298km/h equalling the highest ever recorded at landfall. For two days it battered the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama, in the north of the archipelago.

San Juan: The death toll in the Bahamas from hurricane Dorian has increased to 30, according to Prime Minister Hubert Minnis of the archipelago in the Atlantic.

In an interview with US media on Thursday, Minnis confirmed the toll and reiterated that it was likely to rise.

Highest Landfall:

Hurricane Dorian hit the Bahamas on September 1 with winds of up to 298km/h equalling the highest ever recorded at landfall. It battered the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama, in the north of the archipelago, for two days.

Munnis said that he did not know when evacuation flights would start for people who are not elderly or sick the first to be rescued but he hoped it would be in five days and they would be transferred free of cost to Nassau.

Earlier, Health Minister Duane Sands had announced that 23 people had died because of Dorian, but had emphasized that the death toll would rise "much higher".

Sands said that specialized personnel would be sent to both islands to embalm the dead at the scene, and refrigerated containers would be provided to preserve the remains, but that these containers were beginning to run out.

Sands said that the country had never experienced a catastrophe of this kind.

Aid was arriving from various governments, including those of the US, the UK and Canada, as well as from neighbouring countries and the tourism sector.

Destruction:

Melanie Roach, with the National Emergency Management Agency, said on Thursday that about 100 people had been rescued on the Abacos and that the authorities were working to clear the roads on Grand Bahama, which were covered with debris.

The priority was to rescue people and provide urgent assistance to the elderly and the sick, who were being transferred to islands in the archipelago that were not devastated by the storm.

Problems persist in getting aid to the entire area because of the closure of seaports on the islands, as well as the destruction of airports.

In the wake of Hurricane Dorian, the US Coast Guard rescued 201 people in the Bahamas.

After devastating the Bahamas, Dorian was now expected to bring a 'life-threatening storm surge' up the US east coast.

Residents from Florida up to Virginia were warned to listen to emergency advice as to the hurricane slowly moved north.

Worried, Tense:

The Bahamian health ministry said helicopters and boats were on the way to help people in affected areas, although they warned of delays because of severe flooding and limited access.

Hurricane Dorian grazed the Carolina coast with screaming winds and sideways rain on Thursday, sparing the region the battering that flattened the Bahamas but still threatening the dangerously exposed Outer Banks.

As Hurricane Dorian approached South Carolina on Thursday, a red Jeep Grand Cherokee became a tourist attraction when it was discovered stuck in the sand on Myrtle Beach, waves crashing around it.

Tragic Toll:

Weary Bahamians whose homes and livelihoods were destroyed by Hurricane Dorian waited Thursday for a flight out of the disaster zone as the death toll rose to 30.

Dozens of families crowded the terminal, hoping to get a seat on a small plane to Nassau to stay with family or friends.

But with little electricity, food or water available on the battered island, residents have little choice but to leave for other islands, where services are available.