NASSAU, Sept 13 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Piles of debris, decaying human and animal corpses and fetid water on storm-hammered Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas are posing a new risk for those who survived Hurricane Dorian’s wrath: Disease.
As the insect population temporarily cleared when Dorian slammed into the islands on Sept 1 with top sustained winds of 298 km per hour, water-borne and insect-borne diseases, including malaria and dengue fever, are fresh threats for those who remain or return to the island, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) said in a report this week.
Disease outbreaks could further drive up the death toll of one of the most powerful Atlantic hurricanes on record, which currently stands at 50, but which Bahamian Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said he expects to significantly increase.
Some 1,300 people have been registered as missing in the storm’s wake and the Bahamian Ministry of Health has requested 500 body bags, according to the PAHO.
Former Prime Minister Hubert Ingraham believed hundreds of people were dead on Abaco, the local Nassau Guardian newspaper reported on Thursday, citing an interview with Ingraham after he toured that island.
The health risks could be compounded on Abaco, where officials plan to erect two tent city relief centres to house about 4,000 people near Marsh Harbour, John Michael-Clark, co-chairman of the Bahamas’ disaster relief and reconstruction committee, told reporters this week.
That figure matches the number of people PAHO estimates remained on Abaco after the storm.
Many who evacuated Abaco to Nassau said this week they ultimately plan to return to the island to rebuild their homes and lives. — NNN-AGENCIES
