Hurricane Dorian’s death toll rises to 20 in Bahamas; more than 70,000 people in need of immediate aid

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In this image courtesy of a US Coast Guard, debris litters the ground in Treasure Cay, Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian on September 4, 2019. The Coast Guard is supporting the Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency and the Royal Bahamian Defense Force, who are leading search and rescue efforts. – Dorian lashed the US Carolinas with driving rain and fierce winds as it neared the US east coast Thursday after devastating the Bahamas and killing at least 20 people. (Photo by Erik Villa Rodriguez / US Coast Guard / AFP)

The death toll from Hurricane Dorian rose to 20 on Wednesday, Bahamian Minister of Health Duane Sands said, quoted by local and US media, as rescuers plucked victims from the wreckage.

“At this point we are starting to get a more vivid picture of the loss of life, at least in Abaco, and the loss of life in Grand Bahama,” Sands told local radio, according to the Nassau Guardian.

“So, the toll has risen to just 20 persons… in Abaco and Grand Bahama thus far. But bear in mind that search and rescue exercises, exploration of homes that were flooded, is just now starting.”

In this image courtesy of a US Coast Guard, debris litters the ground in Treasure Cay, Bahamas after Hurricane Dorian on September 4, 2019. The Coast Guard is supporting the Bahamian National Emergency Management Agency and the Royal Bahamian Defense Force, who are leading search and rescue efforts. – Dorian lashed the US Carolinas with driving rain and fierce winds as it neared the US east coast Thursday after devastating the Bahamas and killing at least 20 people. (Photo by Erik Villa Rodriguez / US Coast Guard / AFP) 

Some 70,000 people are in need of immediate aid in the Bahamas, according to a top UN official citing food, water, shelter and medicine.

The UN has released $1 million from its emergency fund to provide assistance to victims, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Mark Lowcock told journalists during a phone call from Nassau.

Agence France Presse