by Dan Purizhansky
During the first week of September, Hurricane Dorian swept through the Bahamas and devastated the country. The Category 5 hurricane has so far left 45 dead and 70,000 homeless, especially on the island of Grand Bahama. Many reporters that have visited the devastated island chain in the wake of the hurricane have remarked that the wreckage looks equivalent to that in a war zone. Property damage in the country is estimated to be at $7 billion, making it the most expensive storm in the Bahamas’ history.
Following Hurricane Dorian’s battering of the Bahamas, it moved toward the Outer Banks of North Carolina and made landfall in a weakened state. North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper stated that there have been no injuries or deaths in his state as a result of the hurricane. Hurricane Dorian subsequently diverted northeast, becoming a post-tropical storm on the morning of September 7th. The storm made landfall in Nova Scotia that night.
The Trump Administration has indicated a willingness to accept people fleeing from the ravaged Bahamas along the southeastern coast of Florida provided that they show up with the adequate documentation in order to vet them for threats to national security. This move came after lawmakers, including Florida’s two Republican senators, urged the Trump Administration to suspend visa requirements on Bahamanian citizens so that they can reunite with family in the United States.
