By Carlena Knight
The Director of the National Office of Disaster Services (NODS), Philmore Mullin, after completing his assessment of the situation in the Bahamas, believes that there is a tough road ahead for the Bahamian people.
Mullin and Antigua Port Authority Manager Darwin Telemaque spent about a week in the Bahamas following the devastation by Hurricane Dorian, a Category 5 storm that destroyed the Abaco and Grand Bahama islands.
“While I was there, one of the things that crossed my mind is whether or not they are going to evacuate everybody, and if they evacuate everybody, where are they going to take them and how they are going to deal with the humanitarian issues that go along with that. Is the island sufficiently destroyed where life cannot be sustained on it? These are all decisions that have to be made by the Bahamians to facilitate the impacted citizens of the country. This type of situation, and this particular one, makes it more challenging.”
Mullin added that the conditions on the ground were so bad that the assessment had to be conducted through aerial views and other means.
“The hurricane slowed down quite significantly, and then it left areas of total destruction. Not just destruction, but it was very difficult to operate as the airport was under water and so we ended up having to do an aerial survey of the damage. We had to use the photos and other information garnered through those means to do a report.”
The full details of the report, however, could not be made public.