The Aftermath of Hurricane Dorian

The Bahamas don’t have great luck with storms, with a direct sweep through the island every 4 years, and a warning of a hurricane almost every single year. Hurricanes hit The Bahamas frequently, and though a few are a category 4 or above, most lay around the 2-3 category and cause minimal damage that can be repaired with volunteers and some time, and although the Bahamas are always ready for those storms, no one expected the impact of Hurricane Dorian until it was too late.

First, you have to know what a hurricane is and why it is caused. A hurricane is formed in warm ocean water when warm air rises and cold air takes its place, but that cool air will eventually warm and rise just like the previous water it replaced and it starts a devastating cycle until a hurricane is made. Hurricanes are also more violent than any other storm because it combines different natural disasters with the fast wind speeds, the most damage causing being a big increase of sea level, which floods all the areas shortly after the initial hurricane has just passed. Hurricane Dorian struck Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina before making its mark in the Bahamas. When it was first broadcasted it wasn’t a category 5 storm, it was a very weak storm in comparison to many other hurricanes in the past until it got to the Bahamas.

With wind speeds reaching a maximum of 183 mph, Hurricane Dorian became the strongest hurricane to reach the Bahamas. When this strong of a storm connects to any country we can expect strong after-effects. Hurricane Dorian was in the Bahamas for close to two days, a category 5 hurricane made landfall in the Bahamas for two days, leaving no safe area for the people, and caused catastrophic damage to the buildings and homes in the area. In the Bahamas “Up to 90 percent of buildings in the most damaged areas were destroyed. Across the Abaco and Grand Bahama island a reported 70,000 people have been made homeless and in need of food and water. 2,500 people are missing, 44 people are confirmed dead and officials expect that number to greatly increase with the cleanup process”. 

Crews of clean up teams are slowing starting to pick up The Bahamas but they are very cautious about disturbing the bodies that could be lying in the debris. The process of cleanup will take a very long time and many different cleanup crews will have to work often to even make a dent and bring closure to the family of missing people and bring their general home area back to life again. With all this destruction comes a financial hurdle as well, as the Bahamas will need up to $7 billion dollars to completely rebuild after the massive hurricane, and manual labor will be immense. It is to be expected to take many, many years for the Bahamas to ever feel like home again.