Remembering the Devastation: Bahamas still recovering 5 years after Monster Dorian

Bahamas: Five years ago, on September 1, 2019, the Bahamas watched in horror as Hurricane Dorian made landfall in Abaco. From all indications, the island knew this monster storm was unleashing the worst natural disaster in history.

But nothing could prepare the people of Abaco, Grand Bahama, and the Bahamas for what was about to unfold.

Yesterday, after five years, the island nation remembered the fallen, those who stood in the gap to help, and those who are still recovering.

Five years ago, the strongest storm on record to strike the Bahamas, Hurricane Dorian made landfall in the Bahamas. The storm slammed into the Abacos with sustained winds peaking at 185mph, the highest since the 1935 Labor Day hurricane.

From there, Dorian went on to hit Grand Bahama, where it stalled and sat on the island for over 24 hours. The Category Five winds lashed the islands for 22 straight hours, the longest duration of Cat 5 intensity the citizens and residents have ever seen.

The unrelenting winds leading to unprecedented storm surges across the islands, causing both structures and unfortunately people being lost to the waters.

By the time the storm began moving out of the country on September 3rd, Dorian had left behind a significant death toll, billions of dollars worth of damage, and the incredible trauma of the conditions that left about half of the homes in the Abaco and Grand Bahama severely damaged or destroyed.

Over 75% of all standing structures were severely damaged, most were outright obliterated. Only exceptionally well built structures remained, and those at least had water damage. The damage was 3.4 billion dollars in the Bahamas, far and away the costliest storm on record for the islands, by about 5 times as much.

However, the aftermath also showed the strength of the community, with many people braving the storm itself to save others and even opening their homes to neighbors in their time of need.

Five years after Dorian, Bahamas is still recovering 

Hurricane Dorian is often regarded as a once-in-a-lifetime disaster, but the worry today, particularly in the Bahamas’ is that climate change could make storms like it more common. 

According to weather experts, the blame for this goes to the warming of ocean temperatures due to climate change. 

Dorian damaged or destroyed a staggering 13000+ homes, leaving tens of thousands of people homeless. Several islands’ entire power grids were wiped out, while 60 percent of Grand Bahama island was under water. 

The storm also killed a total of 74 people, with hundreds of people still considered missing, although the real number is said to be probably much higher. 

While the island nation has recovered significantly and is standing strong but several areas are still recovering from the devastating impacts of Dorian and several people are still in search of a proper roof after the storm shattered their houses.