Business View Caribbean | September 2019

5 BUSINESS VIEW CARIBBEAN SEPTEMBER 2019 O p e n i n g L i n e s S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 9 F ellow Caribbean Community nations are rushing to the aid of The Bahamas after the most powerful Atlantic storm on record pummeled two of its famous Family Islands but even as authorities begin a sorrowful assessment of the damage, the head of government urged locals to brace for a rising death toll. Prime Minister Hubert Minnis said the seven deaths recorded so far cannot be the final death toll so Bahamians must prepare for higher numbers after ceiling-high flood waters from Hurricane Dorian recede and after search and rescue teams reach affected areas. Minnis and other officials said Abaco which is east in line of Fort Lauderdale in Florida and in the CARICOM RESPONDS TO DORIAN north of the Bahamian chain of 700 islands, was in a state of complete ruin and a similar situation existed in Grand Bahama which is off Central Florida. Officials say close to 15,000 homes have been completely flattened or so badly damaged that near term habitation would be impossible. Relief teams in the capital Nassau and other areas pounded only by heavy rain and gusting winds, are preparing food hampers for close to 80,000 rain-soaked and very desperate people. Dorian hit as the archipelago was preparing for a record year of cruise ship arrivals and as the land-based hospitality sector was bracing for similar good fortune. A shaken Transport Minister Renward Wells said no