by: Jarred Walker, In Motion Staff Writer
The massive devastation caused by category five hurricane Dorian has the Bahamas in ruins. As of Sep. 17, at least 60 are dead, thousands are missing and 76,000 are homeless.
Dorian is the worst hurricane the Bahamas has ever seen. With communities and islands completely leveled, the people who did manage to survive the horrific natural disaster will never live life the same.
The system began to form on Aug. 24 in the southeast Atlantic Ocean. It slowly began to creep its way west toward the Lesser Antilles where it officially became a category one hurricane on Aug. 28. A lot of these small islands were affected, but not completely devastated. It was not until the storm began to greatly intensify over the next few days and head straight for the Bahamas and United States.
On Sep. 1, Dorian officially hit the Bahamas at category five strength with winds reaching 150mph. Not only was the destruction enormous, but it was also due to the fact the storm started to greatly slow down and hover over the islands for a few days before it began to shift upward. This was due to a cold front and pressure changes. Finally, the storm began to weaken and move northeast just off the coast of Florida. It then hit the east coast of the U.S. and even Canada. Dorian officially dissipated on Sep. 10. This was the second-strongest landfall hurricane ever recorded (“Labor Day” hurricane in 1935).
Hurricane preparedness is imperative when it comes to situations like this. Everybody in the potential target cone must gather essentials, make home modifications or evacuate, if necessary, before the storm hits, in order to potentially survive. The Daytona Beach area, among others, was extremely ready in case of emergency. Houses and businesses were boarded up from street to street. Grocery stores were selling out of products and having to be re-stocked by the hour.
Even Daytona State College made massive arrangements for the storm such as closing the campus for four days. Louie Mercer, the Director/Chair of the School of Emergency Services, explained, “We monitored the storm daily with the National Weather Service. In addition to that, the college implemented their Critical Incident Management Team briefing. This team includes a group of leaders at the college who are administrators, faculty and staff. They helped make the decisions on when the college should close, if it should close, whether or not the athletic events should be canceled/postponed. It went smoothly, helped us exercise our communication and test our mass notification system, among many other things. We work really hard.”
Many businesses in the area are doing their part in order to help gather donations sent directly to the Bahamas relief efforts. One of these businesses is Publix Supermarkets which has partnered with the Red Cross. Assistant customer service manager, Nicole Gokey, shared, “I love it. I think that this is one of the things Publix stands for and it’s great that Publix is taking the time to help those in need. We ask our customers through the registers and our store location has already raised multiple thousand dollars over the last few weeks.” In addition to the customer donations, Publix has donated $250,000 of its own money.
Many other local organizations, such as Tuff Turf Landscaping, Odyssey Travel and Coastal Tattoo are accepting donations. If you would like to donate online, please visit redcross.org.