Death toll from Hurricane Dorian rises to at least 50 in Bahamas

The death toll increased to 50 in the Bahamas, where Hurricane Dorian pummeled 320 km/h winds, according to a spokesman for the islands' National Emergency Management Agency.

A police officer searches for the dead in the destroyed Mudd neighborhood after Hurricane Dorian hit the Abaco Islands in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, September 10, 2019.
Reuters

A police officer searches for the dead in the destroyed Mudd neighborhood after Hurricane Dorian hit the Abaco Islands in Marsh Harbour, Bahamas, September 10, 2019.

Hurricane Dorian's rampage through the Bahamas last week killed at least 50 people, largely on the hard-hit Great Abaco Island, an official said on Tuesday.

That is up from the last-reported figure of 45, Carl Smith, a spokesman for the islands' National Emergency Management Agency, told reporters. Evacuees, rescue workers and officials widely expect the number to climb higher as more bodies are pulled from the rubble of a demolished neighborhood in Marsh Harbour in Abaco.

Dorian pummeled the Bahamas with 320km/h winds. 

It was one of the strongest Caribbean hurricanes on record and stands as the worst disaster in Bahamian history.

As relief efforts got underway slowly, stirring frustration among locals, several Bahamians said they might attempt to emigrate to the US rather than face an uncertain rebuilding at home.

It is not clear whether the US President Donald Trump's administration, which has sought to severely curtail legal and illegal immigration, will smooth their path.

But a growing chorus of Congress members, including Florida Republicans Marco Rubio and Rick Scott, have called for a suspension of visa requirements to help reunite stranded Bahamians with US relatives.

Some 70,000 people were in need of food and shelter, the World Food Programme estimated. Private forecasters estimated that some $3 billion in insured property was destroyed or damaged in the Caribbean.

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