Desperate residents struggle to leave Abaco airport after Dorian's "tsunami-like" destruction

Record ID: 1430325

  • Title: Desperate residents struggle to leave Abaco airport after Dorian's "tsunami-like" destruction
  • Date: 6th September 2019
  • Summary: ABACO ISLANDS, BAHAMAS (SEPTEMBER 5, 2019) (REUTERS) GENERAL VIEW OF CARS, DEBRIS, PEOPLE GATHERED AT DESTROYED ABACO AIRPORT RESIDENTS WAITING WITH VEHICLES AND LUGGAGE AT AIRPORT SMALL PLANE AND PAN TO CROWDS GATHERED ON TARMAC SMALL PLANE AND PAN TO DESTRUCTION RESIDENTS GATHERED ON TARMAC RESIDENTS SITTING ON POLE RESIDENTS SITTING ON SIDE OF TARMAC AND PAN TO SMALL PLANES ON TARMAC (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL RESIDENT, GWENDOLYN BAILU, SAYING: "What we are going through in the Bahamas. Oh, Lord, I don't know. They said all the places are going through this but trust me - we are survivors. We are survivors. You understand? The Bahamas. We're going to make it. Ok? We're going to make it." LOCAL RESIDENTS SITTING ON TARMAC (SOUNDBITE) (English) LOCAL RESIDENT, GWENDOLYN BAILU, SAYING: "We're not afraid. People are looting because they're hungry. They're not looting to kill you. They are looting because they're hungry. And none of the planes can land at the airport. You see? No planes can land at the airport so no food is getting to them. So when the storm knock down the stores and stuff like that, you know the people went and trying to get food and they went up there for three and four days. Nothing to eat. You can imagine, no clothes to change. You know? They got to live. They got to survive. So you know. (REPORTER ASKS: CAN YOU TELL ME HOW IT WAS DURING THE HURRICANE?) BAILU RESPONDS: "Oh terrible. Terrible. I've never seen nothing like that. I've never felt nothing like that. I went through Florence, I went through other storms, but that one was different, and we said it was like a tsunami. We never had a tsunami but we don't know what a tsunami - we see it on the TV but we think it was like a tsunami. It took the buildings and flew them up in the air. Up in the air but we're thankful to God on for our lives." VARIOUS, SMALL PLANES ON TARMAC, PEOPLE UNLOADING AID BOXES / AUDIO OF JET ENGINES PEOPLE SITTING BEHIND EMERGENCY TRUCK PEOPLE, FAMILIES, WALKING ON TARMAC GROUP OF PEOPLE WHEELING TRAILER WITH AID SUPPLIES MAN CARRYING A BOX VARIOUS, GROUP LOADING TRUCK WITH AID SUPPLIES PLANES ON TARMAC PEOPLE WITH LUGGAGE STANDING BY SMALL SEAPLANE SMALL PLANES ON TARMAC / ONE TAXING PEOPLE BOARDING SMALL PLANE VARIOUS, FALLEN TREES ON ROAD VARIOUS AERIALS, ABACO ISLANDS, SEA
  • Embargoed: 20th September 2019 15:31
  • Keywords: Abaco aftermath Dorian Abaco airport destruction
  • Location: ABACO ISLANDS, BAHAMAS
  • City: ABACO ISLANDS, BAHAMAS
  • Country: Bahamas
  • Topics: Disaster/Accidents,Wind/Hurricane/Typhoons/Tornadoes
  • Reuters ID: LVA001AVITLJB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Dozens of Hurricane Dorian survivors were stranded at the destroyed Abaco airport on Thursday (September 5) as residents awaited relief efforts following the deadly storm.
    Men, women and children waited in the hot sun alongside parked airplanes and piles of luggage, assessing their current situation.
    Some survivors on Friday (September 6) managed to pick up some relief supplies trickling into the small airport on the stricken Abaco Islands. The risk of outbreaks of diarrhea and waterborne diseases is high because drinking water may be contaminated with sewage, according to the Pan American Health Organization, which described the situation for some people on Abaco as "desperate."
    The United Nations estimated some 70,000 people were in immediate need of food, water and shelter on the islands, where looting of liquor stores and supermarkets has been reported.
    "We're not afraid. People are looting because they're hungry. They're not looting to kill you," hurricane survivor Gwendolyn Bailu said at the airport.
    Humanitarian aid supplies were seen being unloaded from small planes but the relief effort faces formidable logistical challenges because of the widespread destruction of Dorian, which hovered over the Bahamas for nearly two days with torrential rains and fierce winds that whipped up 12- to 18-foot (3.7- to 5.5-meter) storm surges.
    Dorian, the most powerful hurricane to ever hit the Bahamas, swept through the Abaco Islands and Grand Bahama Island earlier this week, leveling entire neighborhoods and knocking out key infrastructure, including airport landing strips and a hospital.
    Hundreds, if not thousands, of people are still missing, and officials say the death toll, which currently stands at 30, is likely to shoot up as more bodies are discovered in the ruins and floodwaters left behind by the storm.
    (Production: Aleksandra Michalska / Kevin Fogarty / Temis Tormo)
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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