The threat of Hurricane Dorian is prompting evacuations in multiple states in the Southeast, its winds beginning to touch Florida this morning.
In the Bahamas, the effects are already being felt.
This morning, the first victim of the storm was publicly identified, a seven year-old boy named Lachino McIntosh. There are reports of sightings of bodies, and a dangerous storm surge is expected to wash across Grand Bahama Island, the second-most populous island in the nation.
The Bahamas experiences a number of hurricanes, and zoning requirements are designed to ensure homes can withstand a Category 4 storm, but with Dorian setting records for wind speed at landfall, the storm’s strength has outkicked that bound—which, it should be noted, is not universally followed, especially in poorer areas of the archipelago.
A nation of roughly 400,000 people, the Bahamian population’s size is similar to that of Tulsa or New Orleans proper (i.e., suburbs not included). It’s one of the wealthier Caribbean nations, with its potent tourism sector placing it above even Portugal in GDP per Capita, but its infant mortality rate is worse than that number would suggest, nearly double that of the United States, indicating a prevalence of poverty that, while better than the global average, leaves large portions of the population insecure. In short, while the Bahamas are better equipped than many of their neighbors to handle this sort of disaster, a lot of people there are still in extremely hazardous situations.
As the storm passes and focus turns to recovery, the effects of losses to infrastructure might be magnified by the economy’s reliance on tourism, drawing out risks of short-term unemployment. In the long term, the possibility of hurricane fear turning some travelers away extends the potential for hardship.
Hopefully, the storm surge will not be as bad as it might be. Hopefully, recovery will be swift and effective. And hopefully, in the long term, the Bahamas can continue its progress in reducing poverty and increasing quality of life for its citizens.
If you, like me, are more sheltered than many in the Bahamas from these sorts of threats to life and livelihood, keep an eye out for ways to help. And at the very least, let’s do our best to stay aware of the situation when the camera crews are gone.
