Prime Minister Dr. Hubert Minnis announced yesterday that two more persons from Abaco have died as result of catastrophic Hurricane Dorian, bringing the death toll to seven.

Dr. Minnis added that more deaths are expected.

His announcement followed yesterday’s flyover of Abaco where he led a delegation, including Opposition Leader Philip Davis, to assess the damages. 

“Of the 25 individuals that were transported to New Providence, two has already succumbed.  That would take the number of deaths to seven.  And again, I want to assure and inform the Bahamian population that we can expect more deaths to be recorded.  This is just preliminary information,” Dr. Minnis said during a press conference at the National Emergency Management Agency headquarters.

On Monday, he confirmed that five persons in Abaco died as a result of Hurricane Dorian.  

As Dr. Minnis made the announcement of the increased death toll, he reminded Bahamians to have compassion for the families who lost loved ones and warned that photos of dead people among storm debris should not be shared on social media. 

“Let us pray for them.  Please, I ask you to avoid sending or sharing images of those who perished in the storm,” he said.

“Let us act with compassion.  Do not make the grief process worse for families by spreading pictures.”

The prime minister gave an assessment of the decimated island of Abaco which received severe flooding, damages to homes, buildings and other infrastructure. 

‘To give you a clearer picture of what was seen while traveling this afternoon, the southern aspect of Abaco has suffered less devastation than the north.  The Sandy Port area and progressing north has not suffered as much devastation as was seen in the Marsh Harbour vicinity,” Dr. Minnis explained.

“The national airport in Abaco is under water.  The runway is completely flooded and in fact, the area around the airport now looks like a lake.  Marsh Harbour has suffered, I would estimate an excess of 60 percent damage to the homes.  The Mudd, as we know, has been completely destroyed or decimated.”  

The prime minister added that the runway at the Treasure Cay Airport is still functional, but the roadway between the main roadway and the airport is flooded and under water. 

Cooper’s Town, he said, suffered some degree of damage, but not as much as Marsh Harbour.  

“A community just before Cooper’s Town with outside of Treasure Cay is cut off from the main population and in fact, there were at least about 30 individuals who were trapped in this community and were waving yellow flags, sheets, shirts to bring our attention to their survival,” Dr. Minnis added.  

“The flight engineers had sent the necessary information to a helicopter that was on the ground in the Marsh Harbour area.  And I can say to those 30 individuals that the helicopter was dispatched before we had left the area to rescue those 30 individuals who were stranded because of the flooding.”

The government’s priority at this time is search, rescue and recovery.

Hurricane Dorian battered Abaco and Grand Bahama leaving thousands of residents homeless.  The category 5 hurricane made landfall with winds up to 185 miles per hour.