Death toll expected to rise in hurricane-hit Bahamas as thousands remain missing: UN

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 06 (APP):As the UN and other aid partners respond to huge humanitarian needs in the hurricane-struck northern Bahamas, latest reports indicate that the death toll is likely to increase substantially, the head of an emergency medical relief team said Friday.

“We certainly expect the death toll to rise, I can’t tell you what that would be, but we’re really worried about it,” Dr. Ian Norton, Manager of the World Health (WHO) Emergency Medical Teams Initiative, told journalists in Geneva.

“What we’ve seen unfortunately in this devastating storm surge – especially in a stationary storm – (it) produces what you would see maybe after a tsunami”, Dr. Norton added. “And what we don’t see in those cases is injuries as such, we see unfortunately a lot of people drowned and losing their lives – drowning or surviving.”

As of Friday morning local time, 30 people are confirmed to have died after Hurricane Dorian hit the islands of Abaco and Grand Bahama last weekend with maximum wind speeds of 297 kilometres per hour (185 mph).

But the Government says that thousands are still missing after the Category 5 storm brought with it a storm surge of 18 to 23 feet (5.5 to seven metres) and 76,000 people are believed to be homeless, in need of assistance.