Walking through Great Abaco today is like looking at a photo of the small island taken two years ago just after one of the most powerful hurricanes in recorded Atlantic history stomped through it.
“Across Abaco, it looks like Hurricane Dorian hit just last week. Mounds of debris remain today,” said Maxine Duncombe, an administrator at the Abaco government. “And it will only take one strong storm for that debris to become deadly.”
The island is still recovering today, an effort deeply exacerbated by the threat of COVID-19.
Months after Hurricane Dorian struck the Bahamas, Prime Minister Hubert Minnis spoke to leaders at the United Nations pleading to take climate change seriously, only to find himself back a year later discussing the island’s double punch to the gut.
“Little did we know that just a few months later, an even greater challenge would emerge, forcing the world to come to a grinding halt, at a proportion not witnessed since the Second World War,” Minnis told the U.N.
The pandemic has continued to plague the island with a recent surge in cases like much of the world.
In the last two weeks, the Bahamas has reported nearly 1,500 new cases, according Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. The island nation is having a strenuous time keeping up with the virus as only 13% of the population is fully vaccinated and Abaco has two doctors for a population of 15,000 inhabitants and one ambulance for the entire island, Duncombe said.
In spite of that, the Bahamas is accepting tourists, the effects of which are beginning to help the economy, Duncombe said.
“We are in the midst of an upswing in COVID-19 cases, and the Bahamas intends to maintain tourism,” she said. “The economy is just beginning its long recovery after the double whammies of Hurricane Dorian followed by the pandemic.”
Hurricane Dorian came pounding on the doors of the Bahamas on Sept. 1, 2019 with Category 5 winds of 185 mph. Its historic wind strength is tied with the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 as the strongest landfalling hurricane ever recorded.
Monstrous Dorian made headlines in Florida as residents were urged to prepare for a storm unlike any other. Two years ago, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for Florida. Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer did the same three days later, his office stating “the City continues to monitor the storm’s track and is prepared, if necessary, to go to a Level 1 Full Activation” — which is the activation of the state emergency response team.
But Dorian never showed in Florida.
A large mid-level wind current in the upper atmosphere, or a trough, became Florida’s invisible guardian, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s storm report.
The trough swung eastward out above Florida’s coast and gave the storm a convincing push northeast.
“This kept the intense core of the hurricane east of Florida during the period from 3-5 September,” the NOAA said.
The Sunshine State wasn’t completely untouched. The coasts endured inundation of 1 to 3 feet, and four people died because of indirect causes of Dorian.
The state was largely spared. Instead, Floridians were able to see a grim alternative of what could’ve been by turning to the east and seeing the real devastation left behind in the Bahamas — a destruction that is still present.
The Health Minister in the Bahamas estimated that more than 200 people lost their lives. At least 63 of the victims were from Abaco.
An estimated 76,000 people were left homeless on both Abaco and Grand Bahama.
In total, Dorian was responsible for an estimated $3.4 billion worth of damages to the Bahamas infrastructure, according to the NOAA. Abaco received the brunt of the damages totaling 87% of the destruction. About 75% of Abaco’s buildings were damaged, the NOAA stated.
A University of Hawaii Sea Level Center measured Dorian’s storm surge as high as 7 feet in some areas. However, eyewitness reports tell a much taller tale of high rising water.
The Bahamas Minister of Agriculture, Michael Pintard, posted a video on Twitter showing the water level pushing up to his Abaco home attic, suggesting the water may have been as high as 20 feet. Another viral video even shows the Grand Bahama International Airport in Freeport completely submerged in water.
Dorian’s high pressure steered it westward which caused the Category 5 storm to stall over the island of Grand Bahama for 18 hours, according to NASA data, bringing on even more destruction.
Days after Dorian, the island nation received a flood of private donations and charitable organizations pouring millions of dollars toward survivors. Among the many charities, the American Red Cross and Bahamas Red Cross donated more than $11 million in cash to more than 3,000 families.
While appreciated, it was tourism the Bahamas craved as it’s the backbone of its economy. Days after the hurricane, the government of the Bahamas was pushing the message that it was open for visitors. That changed when COVID hit.
On March 24, the Bahamas closed its borders. Since then, the island nation has closed and reopened its borders several times in the last 17 months. As a result, the Bahamas saw a 76% drop in tourism dollars in 2020, Duncombe said. The amount of economic and health stresses is compounding other problems such as heart attacks and noncommunicable diseases — both have seen increases in the elderly population, according to the Bahamas government.
“COVID-19 caused a lapse in routine health care for these diseases, physical and mental health care alike, which is especially problematic after undergoing the stress and trauma of such a tragic natural disaster,” Duncombe said.
Still, Duncombe is hopeful for more help, and that Abaco and the rest of the Bahamas will still recover.
“Bahamian people are incredibly resilient and hardworking. Recovery of their communities continues to rely upon their own resourcefulness and temerity,” she said.
